


Little and Broken

by SheWhoWalksUnseen



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: A plethora of hugs because everyone needs them, Alternate Universe - Aliens, Alternate Universe - Lilo & Stitch Fusion, Alternate Universe - No Powers, And plenty of pottymouth Legends to go with them, Ava and Ray are adopted siblings, Brief Cameos by Background Arrowverse Characters, F/F, Featuring a very stressed Ava Sharpe, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Inspired by Lilo & Stitch, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Panic Attacks, Young Ray Palmer - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-10-25 04:15:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20717936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheWhoWalksUnseen/pseuds/SheWhoWalksUnseen
Summary: All Ava Sharpe had been trying to do since the accident that took the lives of her adopted family was keep her remaining brother Ray safe and happy - a difficult feat since the loss of his twin left him with a loneliness and distance Ava couldn't seem to breach for the life of her.So it seemed like a good plan to sell their house and move to a beach town away from Star City, get a fresh start where Ray could make new friends while Ava searched for a job to support them so they didn't rely on the late Palmers' money for the rest of their lives.Then Ray's first friend wound up being a telepathic, world-conquering alien who broughtmorealiens after them along with their alien overlord and Ava's plans were thrown clean out the window.





	Little and Broken

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AgentMaryMargaretSkitz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentMaryMargaretSkitz/gifts).

> This was originally meant to be done by Kate's birthday but depression and real life got in the way big time. Thankfully, Kate is extremely patient and encouraging, so now that I managed to power through my writer's block for this fic, hopefully this fic was worth the wait.
> 
> We had a conversation many, many months back one night about a _Lilo and Stitch_ au with Ray and Gumball and since _Lilo and Stitch_ is my favorite Disney movie, I _may_ have been planning this fic idea ever since. I hope you enjoy <3
> 
> Title comes from that famous "This is my family" speech near the end of the movie. If you don't know which one I'm referencing, go watch _Lilo and Stitch_ and cry over the scene.
> 
> Props to my lovely beta @nateheywood for reading this long-ass fic and delighting me with her hilarious comments. I owe you one. <3

In retrospect, Ava probably should’ve seen this coming. 

The one time, _ one time_, she decided to take a break from job-hunting after moving halfway across the country, and attempted to do something nice for her younger brother, she wound up at an animal shelter, of all places, arguing with the prissy lady at the front desk about what constituted as a reptile and what kinds of pets were suitable for an eight-year-old because _ no_, she wasn’t about to buy Ray a cocker spaniel when he was allergic to dog fur. Really, what kind of moron did she think Ava was?

She hated arguing in front of Ray while knowing how uncomfortable it made him, but the clerk was pissing her off, acting like she knew more about her brother’s allergies than she did. Had _ she _ rushed Ray to the hospital when he pet a Labrador at age five and listened to the doctor rattle off his medications? The clerk wasn’t his damn mother; the only person qualified for that role, mostly due to legality and living in the same house as Ray since before he was even born, was _ Ava_.

She knew she should’ve taken some Advil before leaving that morning. A headache was beginning to throb right behind her temples, a persistent ache she couldn’t shake.

“It’s okay,” Ray said softly. He got off the creaky, plastic chair by the window and walked over to where she was glaring at the paperwork the clerk had tossed her way just to get her to shut up. Which may have been for the best, because she was just now realizing how expensive pets were.

Maybe she hadn't thought this through as well as she thought. Who knew supplies and food cost so much?

(Ava knew. Or, she _ had _known, but she’d pretended not to listen to that whispered warning when Ray was curled up in bed wishing on a star for someone, anyone, to be his friend. Never mind the fact that her heart felt like it was being seared with a curling iron very slowly where she sat in the hallway outside his door.)

Ray laid a hand on her shoulder and Ava glanced up, that burn threatening to return when he held out a couple of Advil tablets in his other hand, a thin smile on his face. He knew her too well. 

Which was _ entirely _ unfair since she felt like she understood Ray less and less as he grew older and less easy to appease. 

Especially after the accident.

Ava took the Advil and downed it in one swig from her water bottle - at least she’d had the sense to bring _ that _with her. She rubbed a hand across her forehead and gave Ray the best smile she could manage. “Thank you. And I’m sorry this is taking so long.”

Ray shrugged. “Good things take time. Don’t worry about it.”

God, how was he so smart for an eight-year-old? Ava was hardly patient when she was his age.

Then again, Ava had also been in and out of foster homes since she was five, learning to take care of herself because who else would do so when she had no home to come back to? She didn’t like to talk about it with Ray, since she’d been adopted by the Palmers a year before he was born, but she assumed, deep down, that he bore some idea of what her life had been like.

Come to think of it, with the move and the job-hunting and the frantic search for the savings the Palmers had left behind (thank goodness for rich people), their current situation wasn’t unlike those terrifying years where she had to fight to survive. Except this time, she had a little brother to think of as well.

“Well, sometimes good things need to speed up a little,” Ava said, pushing aside the uneasy ache in her stomach as she forced a smile. “Adult stuff isn’t much fun. Sometimes it’s slow and long.”

“And boring?”

Ava winced. “Yeah.”

“This isn’t, though. Boring, I mean.” Ray hopped onto the chair next to hers and swung his legs as he leaned toward her. “Can’t be bored when I know you’re doing your best.” A hint of mischief crept into his dark eyes. “You know, it really isn’t your fault. Maybe the clerk’s a zombie. It would explain why she’s so slow. And growly and grumpy.”

Ava couldn’t help but snort. She appreciated that the sound made Ray smile wider, even if he thought she believed him. He’d been on a kick with fantastical creatures as of late, probably because of a certain book Zari showed him the other week when she’d babysat as a favor. While he kept reiterating that he knew they were “pretend”, delving into a little make-believe seemed to be helping him through school. Ava was loathe to dissuade him of any notions just yet; she’d learned _ that _ lesson the hard way when they’d had the Conversation™️ about Santa Claus a few months back.

“Maybe. Her breath does smell rotten.” Ava cast a look toward the empty desk and hesitated, her eyes sliding to the gate of the kennel the clerk left wide open. About ten to fifteen minutes had passed already since the irritating clerk disappeared, and it didn’t seem as if she was planning on returning any time soon. Actually, Ava would bet her life’s savings that the woman was taking her own sweet, leisurely time just to piss her off. “Maybe she ate the last little boy who asked for a dog.”

Ray laughed and elbowed her in the side. “But wouldn’t that imply she ate the dog too? She’s surrounded by animals.”

“True. But they’re covered in fur. Makes them harder to swallow and chew.”

“_Ew_, Ava.” Still, he let out a choked laugh as she poked him in retaliation, right in the armpit, then the side and stomach to get him giggling louder.

“You asked!”

“But it’s _ gross_!”

“All animals are gross, Ray, even humans,” she teased.

“Not everyone’s a serial killer or a cannibal, though,” he shot back, only to shriek as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders to pin him down, tickling him across his neck.

“Oh, what was that? I couldn’t hear you over the sound of her victims being torn to pieces in the next room.”

Ray’s hands slapped at her sides, one finding its way to her cheek as his own face turned red from uncontrollable giggling. Ava found herself joining in, laughter contagious as she wiggled her fingers under his ear next. He shrieked again and fell onto her lap, nearly sending Ava toppling onto the tiled floor as she tried to support them both. Unfortunately, she couldn’t salvage the paperwork and pen as well, and she could only watch helplessly as the papers went flying onto the floor in various directions, a couple wrinkled from Ray’s squirming. She heard the pen clatter quietly somewhere, but it must’ve rolled under a chair or something because she couldn’t see it.

“_Ava_,” Ray whined, hiccuping a little as he fought to stifle his next snort, and she loosened her grip long enough for him to break free and retreat back to the safety of his own chair. His hair stuck up in the air on one side, and she pursed her lips even as another snicker slipped out as he tried and failed to flatten the strands down.

“You look like a cat trying to clean itself.”

Ray sent her his best glare, but it was hard to take him seriously when his mouth still twitched with leftover giggles from the tickle session. “You used tickles,” he grumbled. “That has to be cheating.”

Ava shook her head and knelt down to pick up the papers she’d dropped. Thankfully, the crumpled ones were easily smoothed out by running her hand over the page, though she still didn’t know where the pen had gone. “It’s called being smart and knowing your opponent’s weaknesses.”

“Is that murder board Ava talking or zombie Ava?”

She opened her mouth to respond, but a high-pitched _ ahem _ rang out and her head snapped to the doorway leading to the kennel cages, where the wispy-haired, narrow-eyed clerk was eyeing them both. Her lips were already beginning to curl in a nasty way. Ava’s heart clenched as she scrambled to her feet, clearing her own throat. 

“The reptile cages are in the very back,” the clerk said, not taking her eyes off of Ava. She hated that the woman had not _ once _ acknowledged Ray’s existence - except when arguing about his allergies, of course. “If he’d like to look around at our options.”

Ava glanced over her shoulder at Ray, who remained silent as he looked between her and the clerk. “Uh, yeah. Yes! Ray and I would love to - ”

“Just the boy.” Those beady eyes didn’t waver; if anything, she was certain imaginary daggers were wiggling their way into her stare, holding Ava at knifepoint. “We still have to discuss costs and paperwork, which you’ve hopefully completed by now.”

_ Bitch_, Ava muttered in the back of her mind. Letting an allergic kid look through the kennel on his own surely couldn’t end well.

If Ray noticed her frustration, however, he gave no indication. He slid off the chair and stepped up beside Ava, excitement beginning to blossom across his cheeks as he fidgeted in place. “Can I go back and look? I promise I’ll be careful.”

Of course he would. Ray was the most careful eight-year-old she knew. It was the clerk she didn’t trust.

Maybe Ray was right and she really was a zombie serial killer.

Plastering a tight smile on her face, she nodded toward the kennel. “Yeah, of course. Go get a head start. I’ll catch up in a few minutes.”

Ray hugged her leg and hurried off, scooting around the clerk as she shambled further into the waiting area. Ava let her smile fall once Ray was out of sight and breathed in deep through her teeth. If Ray had a severe allergic reaction and died before she was able to get to him, she was suing both the clerk and this pet store.

The clerk gestured for the paperwork and she quickly handed it over, resisting the urge to grimace at how untidy the stack was now. She hoped the papers were in order. At least she’d signed them all before Ray distracted her. Not that her putting any effort into finishing the task made the clerk any more pleasant toward Ava; she just stared. Ava suddenly wanted to fidget like Ray had, restless with nervous energy.

“Is this the first pet in your household?”

Was she really going to ask a question Ava already answered when they first walked in? “Yes.”

“And you and your son - ”

“Brother,” Ava cut in, her voice sharper than she intended, “he’s my brother.” 

The woman didn’t respond and looked back down at the paperwork, adjusting her wire-rimmed glasses as she went quiet for a few moments. “You’re interested in what kind of reptile?”

_ Deep breaths, Ava, deep breaths. _ “We haven’t decided yet, but probably a snake. It’s - well, it’s not like Ray has many options since he’s allergic to anything with fur.”

“I see.”

_ You knew this_, she fumed. _ I told you this earlier, you’re just stalling to spite me. _

“Well, taking care of a snake is different from a dog or a cat,” the clerk said, and Ava wanted to shake her silly because _ yes, she knew this, she’d done the research already, why were they going over this again_. “And there’s the whole shedding skin business and you’ll have to buy mice for food supply, which could be an issue with his condition - ”

“I _ know_,” Ava bared her teeth in the vaguest semblance of a grin as the clerk glanced up. “I’ll handle the feeding, Ray’ll be fine.” Besides, Ray would probably cry if he had to feed a pet snake mice every day, but this nosy woman didn’t need to know that.

“Hm.” She flipped the next page or two and ignored Ava’s shifting in place, the bored gleam in her eyes somehow a sign that she was _ very _ engrossed with the legal paperwork. The glasses were slowly sliding down the bridge of her nose, and were she less annoyed, Ava might have laughed.

She couldn’t hear Ray - was he doing alright? There was no barking or meowing or whatever cacophony of noises Ava usually associated with pet stores. The clerk didn’t seem bothered by anything, but she could just put that down as general apathy and disinterest for her job or the wellbeing of her customers.

“We have a typical deposit of thirty dollars for reptiles, fifty for pythons and snakes.” The clerk clucked her tongue. “That’s not including the supplies for a habitat, lighting, food and water - ”

Ava’s jacket blared out the chorus of _ Shake It Off_, interrupting the droning of the woman before her. Fuck, that was the last time she let _ Ray _ choose her ringtone. Swearing under her breath, Ava fumbled for her phone and dug it out of her pocket before she had enough mind to cast the clerk a pained, apologetic smile. “So sorry, I - I can - ”

“Take it outside,” was the vexed reply she got. She decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and nodded, rushing for the door even as she answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Why do you sound like you’re running a marathon?” Ava leaned against the wall of the building once she was outside and did her best not to sigh at the familiar tease. “You and Ray training for a 5k I don’t know about?”

“Hello to you too, Lance.”

Sara made a hurt noise, but Ava could hear the smile in her voice. “Ouch, someone’s in a good mood.”

“I just…” Ava sighed now, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I’m buying Ray a pet and the lady working is being impossible, that’s all. Sorry.”

“Hey, no, it’s okay.” It was unfair how Sara could switch to softer territory on a dime, all jest leaving her as Ava heard a shifting of something she swore were sheets over the phone, likely Sara sitting upright in bed. Lucky her, getting to sleep in before she went to work. Not to mention how Ava’s chest warmed at the thought of Sara in a tank top, shoulders slumped and arms on full display as she -

Nope, no, _ not _ going down that train of thought. She squashed the ripple of interest even as it nagged like a song stuck in her head. She and Sara had agreed - well, _ she _ mostly agreed, since Sara still occasionally let a few lines that verged on flirting slip - to wait on starting anything between them other than the friendship they had, and dangerous thoughts like that were _ not _ part of staying in her lane. After all, she appreciated the offer but with settling in after moving and job-hunting and everything else on her plate, she didn’t have time to consider dating on top of that.

“A pet, huh?” Sara was saying, reminding Ava of the conversation she was supposed to be focusing on. “Thought Ray was allergic?”

“To anything with fur, yes. But I think he wants a snake,” Ava told her. “He mentioned corn snakes were cool the other day and I think he talked to Zari about her bearded dragon and - well, I thought it’d cheer him up. After everything.”

“I’m sure he’ll love whatever you get,” Sara soothed. “An eight-year-old with a snake is kinda badass, not gonna lie. Might have to come over more often to check out the big guy.”

Ava snorted and ignored the twist in her gut at the idea of Sara coming over to their messy, cardboard box-invaded house. “Oh, we are _ not _ getting a big one. I’ll have nightmares about Ray getting eaten by boa constrictors.”

“It won’t be that bad. Whoever this lady is, she probably won’t let you leave with anything poisonous or huge. And Ray’s smart enough not to pick anything he knows you’ll hate.”

“Yeah?”

“Of course.” Another rustle over the phone was audible. “He wants you to be okay just as much as you want to cheer him up.”

Ava swallowed hard. She wasn’t sure why her throat felt tight. “I… I know.”

“Are you okay, though?” Fuck, Sara’s voice wasn’t allowed to be that soft and concerned, not when Ava wanted to curl up next to her and -

“I’m fine.”

“Aves.”

“Really, I am.” She let her head knock back gently against the wall. She was grateful that she wasn’t actually sitting in the same room as Sara so the other couldn’t see how pink she was certain her cheeks were turning. “It’s - I’m better. Besides, Ray’s the one upset. I’m the one who made him move and we could’ve stayed but it’s better. It’s going to get better here. And here no one bothers him about the accident, which is…it’s good. After all, it was his parents and - and Sydney.”

Sara went quiet for a moment, long enough for Ava to wonder if she’d hung up. “They were your family too.”

Again with that tightening in her throat and the rising dryness that made her want to throw up instead of speak. Ava glanced through the window of the store and saw the clerk tapping her pen on the stack of papers.

“I should - I should get back, I think they’re waiting on me, sorry.”

“Ava - ”

“I’m sorry,” she murmured into the phone before she hung up, turning off the ringer and pocketing it. She’d feel shitty later (she already did, of course she did, Sara just wanted to help) but right now she needed to focus. 

Ray needed her. She was all he had left, and he needed her to stick around. No distractions could make her forget that.

The clerk didn’t look up when she walked in, probably knowing it was Ava without needing to. “Important?”

Ava paused by the desk. “I’m - sorry, what?”

“Was the call important?”

Ah, right. This shit again. “It, um, it was a friend. That’s all.”

The clerk gave a noncommittal hum. Ava already itched to sit back down in one of the plastic chairs instead of strike up a conversation with Evil Zombie/Serial Killer Lady.

Thankfully, she was saved from having to say anything more - or listen to anymore sly, passive aggressive comments - due to Ray emerging from the kennel’s backroom with a beaming smile, and unbridled relief flooded through her veins.

Then she realized what monstrosity Ray was holding and shrieked, “What the _ hell _ is that?!” 

Granted, it wasn’t the most mature reaction from a grown adult, but said monstrosity was definitely _ not _ a snake or any normal-looking reptile since it had four limbs, no scales, and a terrifyingly human features set into veiny flesh. It was fucking _ smiling _ with wide eyes trained on how Ray’s delight was beginning to fade. If she didn’t know any better, she’d have thought it was some sort of deformed human child with elf ears.

Whatever it was, this was the exact opposite of safe and Ava didn’t know how to take care of _ this thing _ when she now had to protect Ray from _ monsters _ as well.

At least she wasn’t the only one utterly horrified by the sight before her, though; the clerk took one look at the creature in Ray’s grasp and went white as a sheet, staggering backward as she screamed. “_Good lord in heaven!_”

“Ray,” Ava said slowly, edging forward as she eyed Ray’s new friend and tried to remain calm despite the clerk’s high-pitched wails, “what is that and where did you find it?”

“His name’s Gumball,” Ray was pouting and oh _ no_, surely he wasn’t already attached to _ that thing_, but of course he would be because it was _ Raymond Palmer_. “He was in the back, like you said. He said he’d be my friend.”

“He _ said _ so.” The headache from earlier was starting to return. Maybe the Advil was wearing off.

“Yeah, he said it with his mind!” Ray held up the creature - Gumball, apparently, which somehow was the most normal part of this revelation - and the clerk crouched behind her desk like she was worried it would sprout wings or fangs next. “Can we please keep him? He doesn’t have anywhere to go, he told me so.”

Ava glanced at the clerk. “Uh, I don’t know if he’s for sale, Ray.”

“That thing was dead this morning, I swear,” the clerk moaned unhelpfully. “The truck driver said it was dead!”

Great. An undead, veiny monstrosity with telepathy, according to Ray.

“Can we _ please _ keep him?” Ray begged, hurrying over to Ava with a pair of the biggest puppy dog eyes she’d ever seen. She couldn’t remember the last time he’d used this look against her, but she hated how sad and dejected it made him appear, so small in front of her and clutching onto the creature like it was a lifeline he never knew he’d needed. “You said I could get a head start, and I promise I’ll take good care of him.”

“I - Ray, I don’t - ”

“Just take him!” The clerk cried out, her head barely visible above the desk. “We’ll - I can print out a license and lower the price, just get that thing out of here, _ please._”

Ray practically lit up like a Christmas tree. “_Please, Ava_?”

Goddammit.

“How much?” Ava asked wearily, pretending she didn’t hear Ray’s exuberant cry as he hugged the now _ cooing _ creature in his arms.

A creature that could very well be E.T. for all she knew.

Maybe the getting-Ray-a-pet plan was a mistake. Or, at the very least, letting _ him _ name said new pet because there was no way in hell she was letting Ray keep that name.

Ray turned to her with grateful eyes and - fuck, _ scratch that_, there was no way in hell she was crushing Ray’s heart by _ not _ calling him fucking _ Gumball_, even if it was ridiculous. And terrifying.

Yeah, this was definitely a mistake.

***

“Let me get this straight,” Sara said for the third time, eliciting a breathy groan from Ava as she fought to keep quiet. Ray was asleep upstairs, but it had taken at least thirty minutes to convince him to sleep without Gumball in his room (“He’s going to get lonely, Ava! Just look at his face!” was never a good thing to hear when your adopted brother was shoving a veiny four-limbed creature in your face so you both could look each other in the eye).

Which was an excellent segue to the problem at hand.

“You _ lost _ his new pet after taking him home four hours ago?”

Ava peeked around the corner of the living room and sighed when she saw nothing out of place. No hide or hair of one creature answering to the name of “Gumball”. “I didn’t lose him! He darted off after I got Ray to bed and I watched him go downstairs, but I haven’t seen him since. Maybe he’s devouring some little kid or something, I don’t know. I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Sara snorted. “You make him sound like some kind of demon, he’s just a reptile, right?”

“I don’t know_ what _ he is. I’ve never seen an animal that looks like him before. It’s like staring at a hairless baby Voldemort.”

Another laugh, this time less contained by Sara’s concern, rang out through the phone’s speaker. “Seriously? It can’t be that bad.”

“You’d be surprised.” Ava crossed the living room and frowned, eyeing the kitchen. Had she left the light on before she went up with Ray? “I swear, Ray loves the thing but all _ Gumball _ has done since we got him in the car is stare at us and make this creepy face. Like he’s trying to smile but doesn’t know how. I wish I could explain it better.”

“You could always FaceTime instead,” Sara offered. There was a strange note to her voice that made Ava wonder if she was teasing. “Unless your pajamas are too corny to be seen by anyone but Ray and his new pal.”

“Well, I don’t think you would want to see me wandering around my own house searching for this thing.” She tried to keep her tone casual as she crept forward, doing a quick sweep with her eyes up and down the stairs for both Gumball and signs of Ray waking up. The kitchen seemed like the next-best place to look, so perhaps she ought to head there next. Plus, she hadn’t had time to make dinner for herself after Ray turned on the TV and convinced her to let him and Gumball watch _ Singin’ in the Rain_. Twice. “This isn’t exactly prime entertainment.”

“I think you’re plenty entertaining.”

_ Stop saying things like that_, Ava wanted to chide her. “Says the waitress who deals with shitty tourists and families for a living.”

“Yeah, but when you’ve had to clean up one kid’s puke or deal with two tantrums from grown adults in one night, you’ve kind of seen all the entertainment you can get in this little town.” Sara made a noise she couldn’t quite make out; maybe it was a word or two, she wasn’t sure. “Honestly, I’d bet you’ve seen more in Star City than I ever will.”

Ava paused before the doorway to the kitchen, her hand lingering on the wood of the doorframe. After years of just struggling to make it through high school, and then college, and then the accident, she hadn’t considered Star City as anything more than a blip on her radar. Just another stop on her journey to get far away from the past. The only difference was this time she had to protect Ray alongside herself.

And now Gumball. Wherever the fuck this bastard was.

“Not really,” she said, clearing her throat as it started to close up on her. There was a rustling and a soft _ clank _ further into the kitchen. Ava lowered her voice and treaded forward carefully, keeping to the wall on her left. “Aside from the rowdier nightlife and taller buildings, there isn’t much different. Besides, you’ve grown up on beaches your whole life - how am I supposed to compete with that?”

“Touchè.”

“And, well, it’s hard to say that Star City is better when the people here - ”

Ava dropped her phone, barely hearing the faint sound of Sara’s worried voice as it hit the floor. Her heart skipped a beat, and not in a fun way, and it felt like she couldn’t move an inch, a frozen statue in the face of two enormous eyes staring back at her. 

Gumball stayed put, eyeing her as if to say, _ Well, what are you going to do about this? _ If he could raise an eyebrow - not that he had any, and god, that was a weird thing to picture - she suspected he would have. The glow of the fridge danced off his wide gaze, and her brain numbed aside from the thought _ Don’t you dare move_.

Sara was still calling for her, a bit more frantically this time, from the phone. Gumball paid it no mind, slowly inserting a can of Sprite into his mouth sideways. She was suddenly grateful for the fact that he didn’t have any fangs or teeth for her to get spooked by as well. Not that the thing _ staring _ was any better. It was impossible to even think of moving when Gumball slammed the door to the fridge shut and scuttled on unsteady legs past her, heading for the stairs. Ava didn’t move even as she heard Ray’s door open and close, a thankfully quiet sound in the emptiness of the house, and she wondered if it was just her or if it had become harder to breathe.

_ Definitely not a reptile_, she confirmed to herself, shutting her eyes as she ran a hand down her face and slumped back against the edge of the counter behind her. But the way Gumball looked at her was almost _ human, _ and there was no way he was any subset of reptile or mammal. It was almost as if he had understood her intention and knew what she was thinking, staring her down like that.

“I’m going crazy,” Ava muttered under her breath. “It’s eleven o’clock and I’m going crazy.”

Sara yelled something and Ava forced herself to bend over and pick up the phone, holding it away from her ear so she didn’t go deaf. “Ava! Ava, pick up the phone! Ava Sharpe, I _swear_, you better not make me come over there if you’ve been killed by that thing or some serial killer, I’ll - just pick up the phone _right_ _now_!”

“If you think threatening to come over to my house in the middle of the night is scary,” Ava said, her stomach twisting at Sara’s responding gasp, “then I’d hate to think of what you’d do in a real emergency.”

“Don’t scare me like that! Jeez, I thought you’d died or - ”

“I’m okay,” Ava assured her. She glanced toward the fridge and moved to open it, checking for anything else Gumball might have stolen. “I… Uh, I thought I saw something, and I dropped my phone.”

Sara huffed, but Ava was sure its shakiness came from relief and not the connection breaking up. “Well, next time you want to drop your phone, let me know.”

“Hey, I can’t control these butter fingers. It could happen at any moment. For instance, right now - ”

“_Very_ funny, Aves.” Ava’s hand faltered as she reached out to sift through the food in the fridge. “Still, I’m glad you’re okay. It - well, it would be terrible if you _were_ attacked by some serial killer. Or Gumball, if he truly is a ‘demon in disguise’.”

“I never described him like that. And believe me, any serial killer would have to be scared of _ me_, not the other way around.”

“Uh huh.”

Damn it. It seemed Gumball had eaten the last of her blueberry cheesecake. Ava flipped off the ceiling with a scowl. “You doubting my skills in self-defense, Lance?”

“Nah, with biceps like that, you definitely work out.” Ava choked on her own breath and pressed a fist to her mouth to stifle the sound, but she swore she could hear the smug smile in Sara’s voice when she spoke over her. “But Ray _ did _ mention something about a murder board when you guys came to the restaurant, so I can’t help but wonder - ”

“It’s not what you think,” Ava blurted out around her fist. She really needed to have a talk with Ray about not talking about those kinds of things in public.

“So you’re _ definitely _ not a serial killer. Good to know.” _ Yes_, thank goodness, that had to be an undercurrent of something teasing in her voice.

“If I was, I wouldn’t be making things like murder boards. Which… Which I don’t have.”

“Sure, Aves. Whatever you say.”

There was a dull _ thump _ from upstairs and Ava hesitated, not wanting to go up and investigate. Was it weird to be scared - no, wary, that was a better term - of a tiny, four-legged, veiny creature in your house? That just so happened to latch onto your adopted brother? The latter part was certainly concerning on multiple levels. 

But.

_ But. _

Well, it’d been a long day. And she didn’t want to go up and find Ray dead in his bed but given how adoringly Gumball gazed at Ray compared to her, and the way he’d started to mimic Ray’s dancing earlier when they watched _ Singin’ in the Rain_…

Maybe it’d be fine. 

Or maybe she just wanted it to be fine.

“Ava?” Sara was starting to sound concerned again. “You with me?”

She swallowed a lump and pulled out the first microwavable package from the freezer she could find. “Yeah, sorry. Just thinking.”

“Hey, you’ll find Gumball, don’t worry,” Sara tried to reassure her. “I’m sure he’s just hiding. New house, new owners - even if he’s some fucked-up hairless cat - ”

“He definitely is _ not_.”

“The point is, I’m sure he’s okay. Overthinking and worrying isn’t going to help, as well-intentioned as it may seem. Just wait until morning. Rest.”

Ava eyed the stairs one last time and heaved a sigh. It was only the first day with that thing. There was still school-hunting and _ job_-hunting and other important tasks to tackle that were far more dangerous and unappealing than a weird creature living in her house.

_ One step at a time_, she reminded herself.

“Yeah. Yeah, maybe you’re right. I’ll - uh, thanks for talking me through this. Sorry that I called you over nothing.”

She swore she heard Sara smile as she replied, “Aves, you can call me over nothing anytime.”

***

Aside from the strange stare-down that first night, Gumball upheld his untouchable status as Ray’s perfect new pet/friend. And honestly, the more cautiously Ava watched him, the more she found herself relaxing with him around Ray. It wasn’t intentional, but when all he did was explore Ray’s room, steal sodas and cheesecake from the fridge (which she was still mad about, mind you), and watch movie musicals with Ray, it was difficult to think of him as a monster. Or, whatever he was.

Ava almost wondered if Zari’s book on vampires and werewolves and the like would be more accurate in providing information about what Gumball was. But, of course, she shook aside the thought as quickly as it came because those things weren’t real, and no matter how deformed or bizarre Gumball was, the answer didn’t reside with _ vampires_.

Speaking of Zari, though, being able to relax and let her guard down also meant she could begin to stop worrying about Gumball devouring Ray in his sleep (no matter how much Sara laughed when she brought this up, there was a nagging fear in the back of her mind that convinced her to check in with Ray every night before she went to bed, just to make sure, because she’d watched enough _ Alien _movies to know when unidentifiable creatures ought to be watched with a careful eye). Thus, when Ava finally secured a job interview, she only warred with herself for a few minutes before deciding to call up Zari to watch Ray for a couple hours.

Luckily, Zari lived outside of town as well and only a couple streets away, so it took less than twenty minutes before a familiar rapping came at the front door. Ray glanced over at Ava questioningly, momentarily distracted from his humming session while watching _ Singin’ in the Rain _ (again), but she motioned for him to stay put as she hurried to let Zari in.

“Congrats on the job,” was the first thing Zari said, hardly waiting for more than a moment before she let Ava gesture her inside. With her hair thrown up into a bun and her pink carrier for Wicksty slung over her shoulder, it looked like she’d rushed over as soon as possible. Ava wanted to feel guilty, but Zari had already assured her countless times that she didn’t mind and it wasn’t as if she had much else to do most nights. Besides, she knew for a fact Zari was having her own problems with job-hunting and trying to take care of her own younger brother, so Ava really didn’t think twice when it meant seeing the mindful way Zari took the check from her hands each night. It was the least she could do on the behalf of the Palmers. And honestly, they all knew the Palmers could stand to lose a little cash.

“I haven’t actually gotten the job yet,” Ava reminded her as she shut the door. She could hear Ray whispering something to Gumball in the other room, maybe recognizing Zari’s voice, and a smile tugged at her lips. “But thank you.”

Zari rolled her eyes. “We both know you’re gonna get it. Nate’s a friend of mine and if I know him well - and I do - he’s going to take one look at your resume and give it to you in a heartbeat. Don’t worry about it.”

“Oh. You know Nate Heywood?”

Zari leaned against the banister of the stairwell and shrugged. “Yeah, we went to school together. He’d probably love Ray, to be honest, he loves kids and - ”

“Zari!” Ray burst around the corner with a wide smile, the only warning he gave before he threw himself forward and hugged her leg. The shift in Zari’s demeanor at the sight of Ray was equally amusing, more so because of how quickly she shifted so she could kneel and hug him back, allowing him to adjust as well to make things less awkward.

“Hey, Ray. It’s been a while, huh?”

“Only a week,” Ray corrected her, but he didn’t let go of Zari just yet. If anything, his grip tightened around her neck. “I got a new friend, though!”

Zari pulled back far enough to fix him with a mock-pout. “Replacing me already?”

“No, never!” Ray grabbed Zari’s hand and started yanking so she’d follow him into the living room. “Gumball can be your friend too!”

Zari glanced back at Ava and mouthed_ Who the fuck is Gumball? _ but she was pulled out of sight before Ava could even think about opening her mouth to explain. Ava hesitated and waited for the inevitable scream, lingering in the doorway, but to her astonishment, none came. Slightly concerned, she stepped around the corner, bracing herself again for some kind of shout.

Ray was gesturing to Gumball in the middle of the carpet with both hands, his smile growing as he looked between Zari and the creature’s slowly blinking eyes. Gumball didn’t seem bothered by the new guest in the house; he just stared at Zari for a moment before turning back to the TV to form that weird, toothless grin as another musical number started onscreen.

Zari, for her part, stared as blankly as Gumball had at her, her eyes wide. Ava was tempted to wave a hand in front of her face to check if she was simply zoning out or that stunned by this bizarre scene before her.

“Gumball,” the creature turned at the mention of his name, and Ray somehow looked more delighted, “this is Zari. She’s my friend too. She fixes our computer with her hacking skills.”

“Basic coding knowledge isn’t hacking,” Zari interjected, but her voice was much quieter than usual, eyes still fixed on Gumball as he looked away once more.

“And Zari, this is Gumball, my new friend! We got him at the store, and he can talk!”

“He can what now?”

“We haven’t actually seen him do that,” Ava jumped in, and no, she had definitely _ not _ forgotten about that lovely tidbit of information. Because the idea of Gumball _ speaking _ was a different ballpark to deal with. The very thought was _ absolutely _ not terrifying. “He mostly just… stares. A lot.”

Zari didn’t move, blinking a couple times in a row. “Huh. Alright.”

“He _ does _ talk,” Ray said, his smile dimming as he gave Ava a look (right, because _ she _ was obviously the buzzkill). “He’s just quiet.”

“Well.” Zari turned to Ray, and it was hard to parse through the complicated emotions flitting across her face before she knelt with a thin smile. “That’s okay. He, uh, he seems nice. Even if he likes musicals.”

Ray immediately brightened with a laugh and squirmed as Zari pulled him closer and ruffled his hair. “Hey! _ Singin’ in the Rain _ is the best musical ever!”

“Whatever you say, Sir Galahad,” Zari needled playfully, smirking when he whined at the nickname. He tried to wriggle away, but she tickled his side. Ray giggled, curling in on himself as he tried to protect his sides from Zari’s ministrations.

Ava’s chest tightened and she stepped back into the hall by the stairs as quietly as she could. It was so _ easy _ for Zari to get Ray to relax, to accept revelations like telepathic abnormal creatures living under the same roof. Not that it wasn’t easy for Ava - she was his sister, by blood or not, she _ had _ to accept it, both because she cared about him and because it was for the best. Gumball made Ray happy, so she had to accept his presence and watch Ray binge his favorite movies with the weird creature. Because it was for the best.

The past few days were the happiest she’d seen him since the move. Since the accident itself, actually.

A small, mildly terrifying hairless creature was doing a better job of comforting her little brother than she was. Go figure.

She absolutely did not think about how Ray had never been able to hang out with Sydney like this, how Sydney scoffed when Ray bobbed his head to the music and their parents urged him to turn down “that racket”, how Ray would go utterly silent, not arguing as Sydney turned on his own favorite shows and ignored the dirty look Ava gave him every time.

“Ava.” She startled and turned around, a flicker of relief sparking in her gut when she realized it was just Zari poking her head around the corner with something she couldn’t place dancing in her eyes. “You good?”

“I - yeah, I’m good.” Ava ran a hand through her hair, grimacing at how greasy it felt to the touch. Maybe she should’ve showered before Zari came over. “I should - thank you for doing this, I should probably head out. Gotta go to the interview.”

“Right.” Zari stepped closer and folded her arms over her chest. She cast a furtive glance behind her, almost as if she expected Gumball or Ray to be eavesdropping. “So, that thing… You got it at the _ pet store_?”

Ava chuckled despite herself. “Surprisingly, yes. And no, I have no idea what he is. My best guess is some kind of reptilian… thing. But all he does is stick close to Ray and watch movies with him. And steal food from our fridge. I promise he’s been harmless so far.”

“Yeah, that’s…. That’s good.” Zari didn’t look too reassured. “You do realize he looks like some deformed baby from the set of a horror movie, right?”

“I…. Well, yes.”

“And he can _ talk_?”

“Ray keeps saying that, but I haven’t seen it. Or heard it.” Ava placed a hand on Zari’s shoulder and tried her best to look comforting. “I’ll only be gone a couple hours, just call me if you need anything. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable by springing Gumball on you - ”

“I’m not uncomfortable,” Zari cut her off, and she glanced behind her a second time, this time less warily. “I just… I know demon-alien-lookalikes when I see them, and that thing doesn’t seem like a pet. But Ray’s a good kid and he can make friends with anybody - or any _ thing_, I guess - so I’ll stay and make sure he’s okay.” She paused. “Would I be a bad friend if I asked for ten dollars more for demonic surprises named Gumball?”

Ava dropped her hand with a laugh and grabbed her jacket by the door. “Remind me when I get back and I’ll pay you _ fifteen _ more, I promise. But only if you keep him from watching that movie all night long.”

Zari shuddered. “Trust me, I can barely sit through one sitting of _ Good Morning _ before I want to gouge my eyes out. I’ll change it the moment it ends.”

“Thank you.” Ava pulled on her jacket and slipped past Zari to peer into the living room. Sure enough, Ray was trying to teach Gumball the dance to the next number while they were sitting cross-legged in front of the TV. Something about the sight, no matter how strange, warmed her heart. “Hey, Ray? I’m heading out to an interview and Zari’s gonna hang out with you for a while. I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?”

Ray turned, his good mood faltering. “You’re going out?”

“Just to a job interview,” she assured him. “I’ll be back in time for dinner.”

“Oh.” He looked at Gumball and back at her and Zari, hands twitching in his lap. He smiled and the cheerful gleam in his eyes dulled. “Be careful. But, um, I hope you get it!”

Ava smiled back at him. “Thanks, buddy.”

“And don’t worry,” Zari said, casting Ava a look that was somehow more of a comfort than Ray’s own words, “because I _ may _ have brought over Wicksty who _ may _ have missed his favorite knight-in-shining-armor.”

Ray’s eyes practically bugged out of his head, and Gumball turned with a slight frown as Ray moved onto his knees to face Zari. “Wicksty’s here too?”

“Of course! I couldn’t leave him at home when he was missing you so much.”

Ava snuck out the front door as Zari distracted him with her bearded dragon, _ Singin’ in the Rain _ stuck in her head even as she pulled out of the driveway and onto the road. She sighed to herself the moment she passed the first street sign, the urge to slam her head against the wheel unbearably tempting. Though, that would probably result in an accident, and that was the last thing she needed right now.

Not to mention how horribly Ray would react if he found out, good god. It had taken a week before she managed to convince him to get in the car with her.

Still. At least she could trust one human to watch out for her brother when she couldn’t.

***

Ava got the job. 

It was almost too easy. Mr. Heywood (“Nate, please, Mr. Heywood’s my dad and I really prefer Nate”) took one glance at her resume and less than ten minutes into the interview, he just smiled and asked, “When can you start?” 

She would’ve celebrated had she not come home to Zari, Ray, and a confused but thankfully silent Gumball presenting her with a sloppily constructed chocolate cake, blue shaky icing spelling out _ Congratulations! _ on top.

She may have cried. Just a little. 

Even if the word _ Congratulations _ was missing its second O.

But, it was alright in the end, because Ray cried too, laughing and calling her silly as she scooped him up into a hug, not noticing when she mouthed a quick _ thank you _ to Zari over his shoulder. Zari called them _ both _ silly for crying, but Ava swore she saw Zari’s eyes get a little watery.

Ava phoned Sara later that night when Ray was asleep to tell her the news, and had to press her hand over the phone’s speaker to stifle Sara’s shouts of joy. Still, she couldn’t help but grin at Sara’s raving and declarations that she “knew you were gonna get it, look at you, Aves!” She even accepted Sara’s offer to take her and Ray out to dinner the next day while she was on break to celebrate, which certainly did nothing to abate the giddiness making a home in her stomach.

And hey, did it really hurt to believe that maybe things _ were _ finally turning around? Working at the local bookstore wasn’t the most exciting job prospect, but Nate was the first person who had responded to her resume positively since the move, and the Palmers’ money wouldn’t last forever, wealthy or not. They needed some sort of income to survive on once that ran out.

So, maybe it was this high she chose to ride on when she brought Ray (and by extension, Gumball, since neither he nor Ray could bear to be parted no matter how hard she tried to protest) to the bookstore during her shift. They had a couple hours before Sara’d promised to meet them at the diner down the road, so Ava figured it was simpler to bring them along to work than drive home to pick them up. That being said, she still felt nervous as she drove up to the bookstore, eyeing Gumball and Ray in the backseat through her rear-view mirror.

“Now remember - ”

“‘Don’t bother Mr. Heywood and stay out of trouble’,” Ray repeated, his eyes darting to meet hers in the mirror. “I know, I know.”

“Right.” She grimaced. “Sorry, I just - things have been difficult, buddy, and I need this job. And I figured you’d like to see how many books they’ve got here.”

“More than a hundred?”

Ava bit back a smile. “_Way _ more.”

Ray gasped and nudged Gumball, who was even more blank-faced than usual, eyes fixed on some unseen point outside the car window. “Maybe I can show Gumball some picture books! I don’t know if he can read, though.”

Whether or not he could, the creature gave no indication. Ava wasn’t sure if he was simply marveling at the scenery or content enough to keep to himself for the moment.

“Maybe. He might like that.”

Ava was grateful she’d warned Nate beforehand that she might be bringing in her brother to explore the store, because she could feel his eyes on them as Ava held the door open for Ray, who took to carrying a rather tense Gumball in his arms. Nate walked over with a polite smile, though Ava could see the edges of it were strained. “Hey there, big man. I’m Nate. I assume you’re the Ray Ava told me so much about?”

Ray nodded, suddenly a little shy as he clutched Gumball closer to him. Ava resisted the urge to put her hand on his back, not that it would be much of a comfort, she was sure.

Nate’s eyes flitted to Gumball and the reason for the tightness of his smile was evident. “And who’s this?”

“Gumball. He’s my friend.”

Nate nodded. “Cool. It’s nice to meet you too, Gumball.”

Gumball didn’t even twitch, wide eyes drifting toward the window of the bookstore. Ava found her nails stabbing the skin of her palms the more she tried to keep herself from tensing up.

“Well, uh, I’ve got to borrow Ava for a few hours, but we’ll both be by the front desk if you need anything, Ray. We’ve got a lot of books you can read in the meantime, though.”

Ray glanced at Ava and hesitantly followed Nate toward the kid-friendly section of the bookstore. Ava didn’t have the heart to tell Nate that Ray was reading above his grade level and probably could’ve handled some of the bigger volumes near the front, but no harm done. They had two hours for Ray to find the more challenging books if he did indeed grow bored.

Nate returned after a few minutes to show Ava to the front desk and explain her role in greeting and directing customers to the right sections. “But you don’t need to worry too much for today,” he assured her with a wave of his hand, “Mondays are pretty slow, so there shouldn’t be too many people coming and going. Tour groups tend to pass us by most of the time in summer. I’ll be back as soon as I can, I just have to pick up my parents from the airport. Traffic, you know how it is.” She didn’t, but she nodded anyway.

And on that note, Ava was left to her own devices, sitting at a desk just a little too small for her legs to rest comfortably underneath it, trying to look busy as she watched the door. 

She could hear Ray whispering to Gumball in the back every so often, his voice rising in volume before he would remember himself and shush both himself and Gumball. At least he was having fun. She felt bad dragging him places when he had no say in the matter, but it wasn’t as if there had been time to grab Zari to babysit for a couple hours _ and _ drive them both to meet Ava and Sara.

Besides, if she wasn’t mistaken, Zari was off watching her own brother at the arcade, and bothering her and doubling her charges had seemed like a poor idea at the time.

Ava glanced at her phone after an impromptu drumming session with her fingertips failed to cure her boredom, letting it open to her lock screen for a split-second. Fuck. Had it really only been ten minutes?

The high of success was already beginning to ebb, exhaustion and boredom taking its place. She folded her arms on the desk and rested her head on them, sighing into the wood.

Would Nate mind if she took a nap on the job? It wasn’t as if many people were passing through. Ray was the most lively customer right now, and all he was doing was reading to Gumball. Maybe that was why she’d been guaranteed the job - next to nobody wanted to wander around a bookstore in a beach town during August. If a customer walked in during the next few minutes, she’d eat her words, but it was hard to believe anyone was interested in even poking their head in to see what the Heywoods were up to.

She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. The skin on her forehead already felt like it was sticking to the desk’s smooth surface. Or maybe that was just sweat beading on her skin.

Would anyone _ truly _notice if she drifted off… for a few… brief minutes… and…

_ The roads were slick with rain, tires carving paths through the flooding streets, headlights barely scratching the surface of what or who lay ahead. She found herself muttering under her breath as she leaned forward to peer through the darkness, ignored the sigh beside her. _

_ “We’re going to be late,” came a low whine from the backseat. _

_ “I can’t control the weather, Syd,” she replied, biting back the coarser taunt on the tip of her tongue. _

_ A deep sigh caught her attention from the passenger seat, the sound of tapping against a phone screen. Likely typing out three different emails to three different clients off the top of his head. “I knew we should’ve taken our car. Not that your Jeep isn’t… _ lovely_. But - ” _

_ “But your Bugatti is _ clearly _ the best choice even though the windshield wipers haven’t worked for three months.” _

_ “We got them fixed yesterday - ” _

_ “And yet every time I ride in that damn thing - ” _

_ “Language!” The sternness of Sandy’s tone from the backseat curbed her tongue this time, gave her enough pause as she pulled her car around the corner of a thankfully empty road. _

_ “He doesn’t care, he’s on his phone again.” She couldn’t tell if she was right, couldn’t see Sydney from here, but she didn’t doubt it. He hardly looked up from the thing. What sort of parents gave an eight-year-old - and only _ one _ of their eight-year-olds, to be exact - a cell phone? She didn’t get a phone until she was fourteen, and even then it was after a year of begging. _

_ “Ava.” _

_ She rolled her eyes and glanced over her shoulder, meeting Sandy’s narrow-eyed gaze. “You’re honestly going to tell me that he gives a sh - ” _

_ “Ava!” David roared, and she whipped around to tell him off right as two headlights swerved into the passenger side of the Jeep and Sydney’s phone flew toward the windshield out of his hands, bouncing off and hitting her knuckles even as her grip tightened to the point of physical pain and then - _

“Ava!” Two hands slammed down in front of her elbows and she startled into her best approximation of an upright position, breathing erratic as she blew the disheveled strands that had escaped her bun out of her eyes. She glanced up and had to blink a couple of times to take in the sight of one increasingly concerned Sara Lance leaning over the desk and staring at her.

This wasn’t Star City. She was in _ Heyworld Books_, not her Jeep. Everything was fine.

Everything was _ fine_, even if her hands couldn’t stop shaking. When had they _ started _ shaking?

“I - Sorry.” Ava cleared her throat and tucked her hands into her lap. A rather futile gesture when Sara was leaning far enough to likely see them still, but it gave her a sense of comfort. “What are you doing here? We didn’t…” Her heart clenched. “Oh, _ no_, don’t tell me I slept through dinner, I swear - ”

“No, no, dinner’s fine,” Sara assured her. “You’ve still got a half hour or so left of work, I think. Unless I got the time wrong.”

Ava checked her phone and sighed in relief at the confirmation. Now that her adrenaline wasn’t skyrocketing into the stratosphere, she could hear Ray still talking to Gumball in the back, giggling at something she couldn’t make out.

He was safe. Ray was fine, he was safe and sound and nothing was wrong.

“I was going to make a joke about sleeping on the job,” Sara said slowly, and Ava looked to her once more at the odd lilt in her voice, even if her expression remained studiously blank, “but you look like you’ve seen a ghost. Or two. Bad dream?”

Ava forced a smile. “Yeah. Yeah, I - I must’ve taken a nap. Didn’t get to bed until late last night,” she lied.

“Do you…” Sara swallowed and a glimmer of something else peered back at her behind blue eyes. “Do you want to talk - ”

“_No_.” Ava winced at her own (rather loud) exclamation. She swore Ray went quiet for a moment before picking up his little lecture to Gumball again. “No, I’m fine. I don’t even remember what it was about.”

The _I can smell your bullshit_ look Sara gave her made her want to shrink in her seat. “Ava - ”

“Please,” she whispered, shutting her eyes so she didn’t have to see the pity she _knew_, she just _knew_ would be painted across Sara’s features. “Please, I’m fine. I promise.”

The door to the bookstore swung open with a creak not unlike a sound effect you’d find in an over-exaggerated haunted house, and Ava and Sara turned as one to see two men pause just inside the doorway. The shorter one, dark-haired with glasses and a wide grin Ava immediately deemed “nervous”, raised a hand in an aborted motion, as if he wanted to wave but thought better of it.

“Hello.” He coughed and stepped closer, sparing a quick glance back at his partner - blond, sharp-eyed, dressed in an oversized trench coat, already wandering further into the store as his nostrils flared and he glanced around side of the nearest shelves. “We were… We were looking to buy some books? Some, ah, _ history _ books. On Earth. And its history.”

Ava tried not to give Sara her own uncertain look, but she probably needn’t have worried with how eagerly the man was staring at her, oblivious to her confusion. “You want… Earth history.”

“Yes.”

“Do you mean _ science _ books? Or books on history?”

His grin wavered. “Both?”

The blond man sighed and grabbed his companion by the back of his collar, though it didn’t appear to be a threatening gesture. The other actually _ relaxed _ into his hold, which - okay, she wasn’t judging, considering her own precarious love life, but there was something about the gleam in Trenchcoat’s eyes that made her wonder if she ought to step in and say something. 

“Sorry to bother you, loves,” Ava could feel her brows climbing toward her temples as she took in the smooth, British - maybe Welsh, who knew - accent. Even Sara looked a bit taken aback. “We’ll just keep to ourselves, you seem rather busy. I’m sure we can find our rectangular tomes.”

“Books!” corrected the dark-haired man with a slight laugh, and the hand on his collar tightened.

“Books, right.”

Ava got to her feet, maybe more slowly than she needed to but this conversation was starting to get weird, and held up a hand. “No, I can help. What kind of - ”

“Really, there’s no need.” Trenchcoat definitely sounded more firm this time. There was nothing amusing or even remotely polite staring back at her compared to his fidgety friend.

“Well, hang on,” Sara said, shifting so she leaned against the desk with her arms folded across her chest, “why not accept some help from someone who actually works here? And, you know, might help you find what you’re looking for?”

“We can find it on our own, I’m sure.”

“In the middle of an empty bookstore, in a town you’ve never been to?”

Trenchcoat’s eyes glittered and the corners of his mouth quirked up. “Who’s to say we’ve never been here before?”

“Aside from the obvious accent?” Sara straightened, eyes locked on his. “Can’t say I’ve seen you around, and I’ve lived here for almost three decades. _ Either _ of you,” she said, cutting off Glasses as he opened his mouth to respond.

“You always get this invested in your clientele?”

Sara met his smirk with one of her own. “Not mine, but I _ am _ interested in shady-looking liars.”

“Sara,” Ava murmured, not liking the way Glasses looked to Trenchcoat as the latter released his grip on his friend, tilting his head at her and Sara. It reminded her far too much of a lion stalking his prey.

“Liars, eh?” Trenchcoat’s smirk grew and _ yes_, _ fuck_, was it just her or did his teeth look like they were growing, sharpening in the light? “Well, that’s rather rude.”

Ava reached out for Sara as she began walking forward, perhaps to stare down the stranger or fight him or - she didn’t want to find out, honestly, she just wanted the pit in her stomach that was coiling tighter and tighter to _ stop _ and _ relax _ before something -

“Gumball, wait!” Ray came running out from behind a shelf and a blur of gray came streaking in front of him, barely recognizable until Ava realized she _ did _ know those wideset, dark eyes far too well. She barely had time to question why Ray was chasing Gumball, much less _ running _ indoors, before Sara made a strangled noise and Trenchcoat threw himself toward the creature like he was prepared to flatten Gumball with his wrinkled, red tie.

Thankfully - and when she had suddenly grown concerned for _ Gumball_, of all the living beings in this bookstore, was beyond her - Gumball bolted in the opposite direction, leaping onto Ava’s shoulder in a single bound and she shrieked, mostly out of surprise, flinching as Ray shouted. She couldn’t hear whatever he said over her own shriek, but as she backpedaled against the desk she watched Trenchcoat hit the floor face-first. Glasses squeaked and dug into his blazer pocket for something small. Ava reached with unsteady fingers to grab Gumball and maybe pry him off, but the creature was moving before she lifted her hand, scrambling across her shoulders and onto the desk, a bizarre noise coming from its toothless mouth that she almost wanted to call a snarl. Sara darted back from the desk in an instant, face ashen, jaw dropping, and Ava yanked her out of the way as Trenchcoat rushed to his feet and surged forward _ again_, arms outstretched even as Gumball leapt onto his back.

“Stop it!” Ray yelled. Ava let go of Sara’s arm to hold Ray back from the two men and the comically fast Gumball; now was _ not _ the time to test whether her brother was quick enough to nab his new best friend before these two did. “Stop it, leave him alone! He’s not going to hurt you!”

“What the fu_ \- fudge _ -” Sara luckily corrected herself in time, but Ava could hardly care about profanity when Glasses pulled what looked like a bronze _ taser _ from inside his blazer with a soft _ aha! _ “-is going on and what is _ that thing_?”

“No, no, _ you can’t hurt him_!” Ray fought Ava’s grip with all his might, and she had to pull him into an awkward embrace so that he didn’t claw off her forearm.

“Take the shot!” snapped Trenchcoat to his partner. It was difficult to take him seriously when he was spinning in a circle with Gumball clinging for dear life to his sleeves, adjusting from one to the next so Trenchcoat couldn’t seize him by one of his stubby limbs.

“_No!_”

“I don’t - ” Glasses hesitated, raising and lowering the taser with a frown, edging inch-by-inch closer to the bizarre display before him. “I can’t get a clear one, I’ll hit you!”

“That _ thing_,” Ava told Sara, grunting as Ray kicked her in the gut, hopefully by accident, “happens to be Gumball.” A hysterical laugh tickled the back of her throat at the look of disbelief in Sara’s eyes when she turned to face her.

“_That’s _ your Gumball?”

“You’ll hurt him, leave him alone!” Ray screamed.

“Green, just - _ take the bloody shot_!”

Glasses bit his lip. “I don’t - ”

“_Do it!_”

Several things happened at once.

The front door to _ Heyworld Books _ opened and an older gentleman entered with Nate Heywood close behind.

Gumball launched himself onto the front of Sara’s blouse, crawling over her as she shook him off and onto Ray’s shoulder, tiny arms wrapping immediately around Ray’s neck.

Glasses - or, _ Green_, she supposed, though she doubted that was his real name - pressed a button on the taser and a coil of stark white light sprang from the device like an enormous flashlight. Green tried to spin toward Gumball’s trajectory and was hit by the opening door instead, the device falling from his hands and blinding both Nate and the gentleman as their shouts joined the chaos and they nearly tripped over Green on the carpeted floor.

And, last but not least, Trenchcoat slammed his hip into the desk in his effort to grab Gumball and didn’t see Sara’s flailing arm before her elbow gave him a clean smack to the nose, the crack loud enough that Ava could hear both the sound of his nose breaking and the profuse swearing that came as he clutched it with one hand - at least, she _ thought _ it was swearing but it was hard to tell with the clamor and _ everything _ going to shit. Ava barely managed to snag Sara’s arm as her hold on Ray sagged; she tugged her away from the mess in front of them, four men staggering and bellowing incoherently at each other in the middle of an empty bookstore, hoping Sara had enough sense to back away with her and keep quiet.

Which, of course, was when Ray chose to exclaim Gumball’s name, embracing his friend the best way he could while wedged between Ava’s chest and arm, and the older gentleman shouted, “_Nathaniel, who on earth is responsible for this nonsense and why is there a child running about?!_”

Sara met her gaze but Ava could hardly look her in the eye as she sucked in a shaky breath, clutching Ray tighter to her even as he squirmed, watching Nate start to blink away the spots in his vision from where he leaned on the bookcase closest to him.

And she knew for certain as the moment passed and Nate finally spotted her, hesitation and tried-and-true pity flashing across his face, that she wasn’t going to need to ask for an early dinner break tonight.

Or ever.

***

The two strange men manage to sneak out of the store while the older gentleman (Mr. Heywood, _ the _ Mr. Heywood Nate had mentioned before and who apparently hated _ scenes _ that happened to devolve into “utter, unmitigated chaos” in his establishment, no matter how quietly Nate tried to urge him to calm down) berated Ava for at least five full minutes, only allowing Nate to give her the day’s pay before he personally ushered her out the door where Sara, Ray, and a frustratingly content Gumball awaited her.

“I really am so sorry,” Nate said, and she believed his doe-like, apologetic gaze even as he shut the door in her face.

Not that it was _ his _ fault she’d somehow caused a brief period of premature blindness in both Heywoods, knocked over several shelves, and let a “horrifying monster” (she’d had to clamp a hand over Ray’s mouth to keep him from snapping at that one) into his family’s store.

The funny thing was, only one of those was technically her fault.

It was so funny she had to resist the urge to laugh. Really hard. Maybe in a mirror so she could see her own face while she did so.

And then scream for hours and hours afterward.

“I’m sorry,” Ray whispered behind her. Ava swallowed hard and turned, hating how wet Ray’s eyes were as he held Gumball to his chest. “I should’ve stayed out of trouble, but now you’re fired.”

Ava forced a smile and walked over, kneeling on the sidewalk in front of Ray. She tugged him closer by the front of his striped shirt and made sure he looked her in the eye. “Thank you. But somehow I doubt you caused _ all _ of that disastrous mess, and it’s really not your fault, buddy.” She leaned in so her mouth was against his ear and he tried to jerk away with a sniffling giggle as her breath tickled his skin. “Besides, I’m pretty sure Nate’s dad is a vampire. I mean, did you _ see _ what happened when he got hit by that light? _ Crazy_, right?”

“I guess that’s better than a serial killer,” he teased, and she didn’t have the heart to remind him that maybe such jokes were best kept to the privacy of their home when it brought him a genuine (albeit slightly crooked) smile in turn.

“You _ guess_?”

“Vampires are supposed to be fast. He would have sucked your blood and I never would’ve known until too late!”

Ava pretended to think about that, squeezing Ray around the middle so he giggled again. “Hmm. I don’t know. What if… he _ already _ recruited me to his legion of the undead!” She blew a raspberry on his neck as if she were going to bite him, vampire-style, and he laughed louder, poking her in the side with one hand while Gumball made a cooing noise between them.

“Ava, _ no_!”

“I can feel the sunlight burning my skin! Oh, the light! Oh, it burns!”

“You’re still breathing, Ava!”

“Must… feast… on little boys…”

Ray moved his poking to her neck, still laughing as she scooped him up into her arms, standing and heading toward the car. “You’re a terrible vampire! You’re not even sucking my blood!”

“Maybe your stinky breath is keeping me at bay, then,” she said, making a show of gagging when his face turned even the slightest inch closer to hers. “_Jeez_, someone needs a mint, amiright?”

“_Ava!_”

She moved to blow another raspberry into Ray’s neck but a gentle hand on her shoulder snagged her attention instead. Sara stood behind her, a ghost of a smile dancing on her lips before it vanished altogether.

Oh, right. She’d forgotten -

“We can still head to the diner, if you want,” Sara offered, her hand leaving Ava’s shoulder too soon, taking the brief warmth it had brought as she slipped her hand into her jacket pocket. “They don’t usually need reservations but we can still make it there by five.” The _ like we planned _ went unspoken but Ava’s ears rang with those three words, over and over the longer Sara held her gaze.

She didn’t want to be alone. Not with Ray and his inquisitive line of questioning that would surely start back up once the jokes wore away, and Gumball’s obsession with rewatching the same musicals. The gnawing pit in her stomach hissed awful, _ rotten _ things about her and her ability to hold one _ fucking job, that was all you had to do, Ava_.

No, being alone was definitely the worst idea she could go through with, given the inevitable way the night would pan out from there.

But the alternative was sitting across from Sara Lance - kind, funny, ridiculous Sara who still eyed Gumball with the same wariness Ava had for the first couple days in their house, who listened to her worrying in the middle of the night and flirted with her and kept her distance when Ava begged her to, who looked like she wanted to burst back into the bookstore and deck Nate and his dad ten times over for her sake - and Ava didn’t know if she could handle that right now.

Sara’s eyes softened, realizing what Ava was thinking even while she continued to tear apart the pros and cons at breakneck pace in her head. “Or not. It’s late and something tells me you might want to rest after everything.”

“Ava?” Ray sounded so young, his voice as hesitant as Sara’s searching stare. She couldn’t bear to look him in the eye.

“I...” Ava gave herself a mental shake and sighed. “Thank you. For everything. I just - I don’t think I’m up for anything tonight. Maybe another time.”

She envied how Sara could look so understanding in the face of rejection. “Sure thing. It’s been a while since we got to hang out.”

“Yeah.” Ray shifted in her arms and Ava took that as her cue, half-turning to go as she watched Sara watch her back away toward the car. “I’ll... we’ll see you around. And call you. Later.”

“Later sounds good to me.”

Ray said a quiet farewell and Ava couldn’t help herself from noticing as she pulled onto the road that Sara stood rooted to the sidewalk, watching them drive away.

She also swore she saw two shadows dart across the wall of the building across the road from the bookstore, lurking just past the corner of her eye, before she turned at the next light and they vanished with the fading daylight.

***

“You should have said yes,” Ray told her as she tucked him into bed that night. Gumball perked his head up from underneath the covers before slinking back down to burrow himself against Ray. For some reason, he seemed to adore burying himself in the blankets, like he was pretending to hide from the rest of the world.

“To what? Mr. Heywood’s offer to join the undead?”

Ray snorted, but any amusement passing over his features was fleeting. He pushed up onto his elbows, ignoring Ava’s - and Gumball’s - protests. “No. I mean Sara.”

“Sara,” she repeated, feeling a little like she’d been thrown to the ground by her hair and told to get back up. 

“She was going to eat with us. She hasn’t eaten with us since the day we met her. And that was at _ her _ restaurant. While she was _ working_.”

“Well, tonight was just...” Ava grimaced. “It wasn’t a good night. Besides, I promised we’d get another chance to eat out with her again, so it’s not like she’s disappearing forever.”

“But she likes you,” Ray said. “She looked so sad when you said no.”

“Ray.”

“And you _ like _ her, right?”

Ava let her shoulders slump as she sat next to Ray on his bed. The bright pinprick of hope in his eyes beneath the first vestiges of sleep tugging for control was almost cute, despite the circumstances. “I don’t think that matters right now, Ray.”

“You said in your diary you liked her butt. And that fancy thing she does with her hair, whatever that is.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Did I now?”

Ray’s cheeks flushed a little. “Gumball tried to eat it the other day and I didn’t want to tell you. So... I hid it. In my room.”

“And read it.”

“Maybe.”

Ava shook her head but there was no irritation in the motion. It wasn’t as if this was the first time he’d found her diary. Nor would it be the last, she mused to herself.

She looped an arm around Ray’s shoulders and rested her head on top of his, staring at the pictures they’d taped on the wall opposite his bed. Family portraits done in crayon from kindergarten, macaroni art of what he claimed was a robot but really looked like a turd with legs, a color-by-numbers drawing he’d only half-finished before growing bored - there were so many she could barely remember what each one was. A lot had gone missing in the move and Ray’d been devastated, refusing to leave without looking through every drawer, nook, and cranny for the others.

She pretended not to know that most of the missing artwork came from Sydney’s side of the room, buried deep within wastebaskets and sock drawers before they’d been lost forever.

“I just want things to be good and settled before I plan anything with Sara,” Ava admitted. She didn’t intend to speak so quietly, but it came out that way, hushed in the cramped space of her brother’s bedroom, the lamp beside her the only feeble light source as the bulb flickered. “I want you to be happy.”

“I’m already happy,” Ray said. “I’ve got you. And Gumball. And Zari and Wicksty and Sara and maybe Nate because he seemed nice. Before you got yelled at.”

Ava laughed into his hair, and somehow she had to restrain herself from trembling and burying her whole body against his, and for the first time she thought maybe Gumball had a good idea, sticking so close to Ray like he was a lifeline he couldn’t afford to lose. “He’s very nice. I promise.”

“Good. He can play with us again, then,” and his eyes lit up in a way that made her chest ache, “which means you can go with Sara next time!”

“Ray...”

“You did say you wanted to give Zari a break from babysitting.”

“I don’t know if Nate would be up for that. Besides, you like when Zari comes over.”

“Yeah.” She almost didn’t catch his response, too focused on the agitated way he fiddled with his hands in his lap. “But...”

“But what?”

Ray went silent, hands in motion all the while as he tucked them closer to his body, fingers twitching. Ava was about to pull away to get him to look her in the eyes when he spoke, barely audible even when he was so close. “All you do is look for jobs. The last time we played together was when we got Gumball.”

Surely that wasn’t right. They’d hung out plenty of times - well, maybe not outside of the house these days, but...

No. No, even then she hadn’t watched a movie or started up a board game or anything. 

When _ was _the last time they’d done anything together?

_ As a family_, hissed a small voice in the back of her mind and she wanted to recoil, run right out the bedroom door and down the hall into the street where -

“You’ve been so sad,” Ray continued, perhaps not noticing Ava’s internal turmoil. His voice cracked on the last word. “I know you’re busy but you look so sad and Sara makes you smile, and maybe you’d be happier if you went out with her. It just - We don’t eat together anymore and the house is so _ big _ and I _ miss you_, Ava.”

She inhaled, and the scent of fruity shampoo hit her like a hurricane as she pulled him against her so he was hugging her properly. She could already feel a damp patch forming on her shirt where his face was pressed against her chest.

“I’m sorry, Ray,” she whispered into his hair, closing her eyes. “I’m not - I miss you too, I promise. And sure, Sara... Sara makes me happy, yes. But you make me even happier, Ray, and I want to make sure _ you’re _ okay before I do anything else. I didn’t mean to make you feel alone.”

“Are you really happy?” Ray’s voice was so small, muffled further as he burrowed into her shirt.

“Yes. You make me _ so _ happy, you have no idea.” Ava laughed, a wet, harsh sound that made her throat burn. “I’m not trying to get rid of you with anyone here. Not Zari or Nate or even Sara. I promise.”

“I know you wouldn’t. I just miss you.”

Her vision blurred as she kissed the top of his head. A wave of nostalgia washed over her from decades gone by, when Sandy used to do the same for her. Back before Sydney and Ray were born and things got too busy for her to...

Oh.

_ Oh_, she was so _ stupid_.

Ava bit her lip to stop herself from letting out a sob. Of course Ray would think she was unhappy, of _ course _ he’d try and make her feel better by offering someone else as an alternative because it was the only thing he knew how to do. And she hadn’t been much better, what with giving Ray Gumball and pawning him off on Zari whenever she couldn’t bring him along to job interviews.

For all that she’d criticized Sandy and David when she was older (when she knew better and the honeymoon phase of the adoption had worn off, more like it), she’d started turning into a younger, gayer, less frigid version of them.

God, wasn’t that a horrifying thought.

Ava adjusted Ray so he was on her lap and brushed back his hair as he looked up at her, scrubbing at his eyes with a determination she’d seen far too often. She grabbed one of his hands, gentle as she could, and pulled it against her heart. “Hey,” she said, and she hated how hoarse she sounded but it got Ray to meet her gaze fully. “I’ve missed you too, buddy. I know words are empty promises but once I find a job - a _ better _ job, maybe one where I can see you and not get yelled at by my boss’ dad - everything will go back to the way it was. We still haven’t looked around town yet, right? Maybe we should go to the beach this weekend.”

Ray sniffed, but a familiar spark crept back into his eyes. “The beach?”

“Yeah. I heard Ivy Town’s got some awesome beaches. And it’s been a while since we took a lazy day, so why not?”

“Can we take Gumball too?”

That was going to raise some eyebrows. And maybe some voices. But they’d cross that bridge when they came to it. “Sure. He’s probably never seen one before.”

Ray looked over at Gumball, whose head was halfway out from under the sheets as he eyed them both warily. “We might have to buy you some floaties but that sounds fun, right? Don’t worry, I’m not a good swimmer either.”

Oh, right. She made a mental note to buy the tiniest pair of swim floaties she could find. Maybe two, just in case. “That settles it, then.”

Ray hugged her around the middle and Ava allowed him to hold on for a good moment or two, listening to his breathing evening out and sniffling die down little by little. She locked eyes with Gumball over Ray’s shoulder and the creature just tilted his head at her, mouth tugging into what she guessed was a frown. It almost looked like he was lost in thought or confused by the situation. She decided to go with the latter, given how still he was beneath the covers.

“You know,” Ray said, lifting his head away from her so he could grab her attention. There was something crossing his face she couldn’t pinpoint. “You know, you don’t have to be Mom or Dad. Right, Ava?”

She let out a shaky breath and it left her lips more like a gasp. “I’m not…”

“I miss them,” Ray cut her off, his lower lip wobbling but his voice firmer than she’d ever heard before. “I miss Mom and Dad and Syd - Sydney. But I need you, not them.”

Ava smiled and combed a hand through his hair, using the other to quickly wipe her eyes as tears threatened to escape. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, that’s good, then. Because what_ I _ need, more than _ anything_,” she punctuated the word by ruffling his hair, making it stick up and inciting a whine from Ray, “is _ you_, big guy. You and your big heart. Just be patient with me, okay?”

“Okay,” he whispered, smiling up at her.

***

She held it in until she was in the hallway, almost to the stairs, hand halfway to the banister, before she clamped her free hand over her mouth and sobbed, sitting on the top step with her knees tucked against her chest. Her phone dug uncomfortably into her side in her pocket but she didn’t care; she just curled in on herself, back against the wall and stifled her sobs into her hand. She couldn’t even name _ why _ she was crying, she just _ hurt _ and Ava couldn’t breathe, couldn’t get her heart to stop slamming itself against the confines of her chest like it was trapped in a cage and nothing would ease her pain until it got what it wanted. 

She hadn’t cried since before the accident, since the hospital and waking up alone with her leg throbbing and a nurse assuring her that everything was going to be fine right before Ray came running in with tears streaking down his cheeks.

How ironic that of all the people in the world - the cops, the doctors, the nurses, _ anyone else in the world _ \- her eight-year-old brother had to break the news that she was the only one “awake”.

She wondered if he even knew it had been her driving, if he blamed it on the rain and the roads and the drunk truck driver who’d barreled into them without a second thought.

She wondered if it was better that way, and he didn’t know how numb her insides were - until now, until _ pain _ and _ fear _ and _ it was only her, she was alone, she had to be the bigger person_, _ that’s how you survive, you have to be the bigger person for Ray. _

Maybe then she’d be able to say out loud _ I miss them too. _

***

Her phone went off in the middle of lunch the next day, buzzing incessantly against her thigh before she answered it just to shut off the vibrations. Ray gave her a look through a mouthful of sandwich that said _ You could always just turn the ringer on instead_. She stuck out her tongue at him and he laughed, quickly swallowing so he didn’t choke on his food.

“Hello?”

“_Ava_!” Sara’s voice was loud in her ear, enough so that she pulled it a couple inches away just to wince. “Oh, thank goodness, I wasn’t sure if you’d pick up in time.”

“I - Pick up for what?”

“I have the best news and so very little time - ” Sara huffed and Ava realized there was a strange sound in the background, like wind rustling through trees. “There’s very little time to deliver it! So I’m heading over right now, and I hope you’re dressed because this is going to get awkward if not.”

“Of course I’m dressed, don’t…” Ava frowned. “Are you _ driving_?”

“What? No! Of course not!” Sara paused and there was a suspiciously cough-like noise over the other end. “I’m… I may be running, though.”

Ava sighed and stood up from the table, shooting Ray an apologetic look as he began to frown too. “Sara, whatever it is, you can just _ tell _ me. And for god’s sake, you don’t need to _ run_, we’re miles from town - ”

“I got you a job!”

She stilled. “You… What?”

“My sister, Laurel - she owns a restaurant and bar by the pier and it’s not too far from the bookstore so it’s not much more of a drive, and you said you’d been a waitress yourself for a couple of years - ”

“When I was in _ high school_,” Ava reminded her, but her mind was still stuck on the whole ‘_job’ _ bit. “But, wait, I don’t - ”

“I talked to Laurel about it yesterday and she’s been needing a couple extra hands on deck. She said she’d only do it if she could meet you in person though, just because, and I’m quoting her directly here, ‘I don’t want to show favoritism, but if she’s as awesome as you say, she’s got the job’.”

“She did not say that.”

“Okay, maybe I paraphrased it, but _ still_!” Sara stopped to catch her breath and thankfully her mouth was away from the phone this time, so Ava didn’t need to listen to her huffing and puffing. “Just… Just get your car ready and meet me outside, please?”

Ava glanced over at Ray, who was doing a terrible job of not eavesdropping while trying to get Gumball to stop eating the chocolate bar he’d nabbed from the fridge. For some reason, the creature only loved sugary sweets and drinks, no matter how hard they tried to hide them or wean him off the habit. She had a feeling diabetes was in Gumball’s near future.

“I don’t - Sara, Zari’s not going to be able to watch Ray today, she’s off at an interview. I can’t just leave him here.”

“We won’t be long,” Sara promised. “Just driving there, talking to Laurel for a little bit, and then heading back. Less than an hour.”

“Sara - ”

“Hey, he can take care of himself for an hour, right? Besides, I don’t think bringing him to the bar would be a good idea.”

“We’re meeting her at the _ bar_?”

“Just trust me! Please?” 

“Ava,” Ray said, and she nearly dropped the phone as she turned around to find her brother standing a few feet away. “Is everything okay?”

She sighed and wished she could glare at Sara so that she’d see the kind of mess she was pulling her into.

Then again. If she was serious, and Laurel was as generous as she said…

Fuck. She couldn’t turn this down, impromptu or not.

“I… yeah, everything’s okay, Ray.” She lifted the phone away from her ear and pressed her hand over the speaker. “Uh, I just… Sara said she might have found me a job.”

Understanding flashed within his eyes. “And you need to go.”

“Unfortunately, yes. But Zari’s busy and I don’t think I can call anyone right now to stay with you - ”

“You can go.”

Ava hesitated. “I think there are a few child safety laws against that, you know.”

“I’ll be fine,” Ray insisted. “I’ve got Gumball here to protect me.”

Yeah, that didn’t instill much confidence, considering he was now devouring the chocolate bar’s wrapper with brown smudges across his veiny face. “Ray, I don’t - ”

“Just go and I’ll be right here. I’ll lock the door and everything!” He took the phone from her and spun away as she tried to protest and snatch it back. “Sara? She’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

“_Ray_!”

She heard Sara laugh over the phone even before she managed to wrestle it away from her brother. “Alright, kiddo. Hold down the fort for her, then, okay?”

“I don’t like this,” Ava declared, but neither Ray nor Sara would hear of her backing out and before she knew it, her brother was pushing her with all his might towards the door and handing her the keys, and suddenly Sara was hanging up and knocking on the front door for a full ten seconds before Ray opened it. Ava determinedly kept her eyes on Sara’s face rather than the sweat pouring off of her, causing her tank top to stick in… certain places.

“Hi,” Sara wheezed, doubling over to rest her hands on her knees, grinning wildly up at her.

“Hi.”

“Hey, Sara!” Ray chirped. Then he pushed Ava out the door with a “good luck!”, and she heard the door slam even as she turned to respond, the locks turning in the next moment.

Okay then.

Sara snorted. “Someone’s excited.”

“You two are going to be the death of me,” Ava muttered, but she started toward the car, stopping for only a moment to allow Sara to straighten and follow, pushing her hair off her face and neck. Somehow, that served to make it cling worse, several strands stuck just beneath her mouth and her jaw.

“Yeah, yeah, just shut up and drive,” she teased.

Just for that, Ava didn’t let Sara choose a single song, slapping her hands away and ignoring her doe-eyed pout every time. The fact that she smiled the whole drive over meant nothing.

***

True to her word, the interview didn’t last long. Laurel made Sara wait outside (“You’re nosy and this isn’t about you - don’t even give me that look!”) while she talked to Ava, asking about her last few jobs, what she did and remembered from her time as a waitress, what hours she could work, what time she needed to be home by to check in on Ray. She even asked if Ray would be more comfortable joining her at work on occasion (“School starts up in three weeks but I’m still trying to figure out where and when and whether we’ll need to carpool, honestly”) and didn’t bat an eye when Ava brought up the fact that she couldn’t get someone to watch Ray every night.

Thus, by the time Ava climbed back into the car and stared at the dashboard, a familiar numbness had begun creeping its way down her spine, so much so that she almost didn’t hear Sara calling her name next to her.

“Hey. Ava? You good?” 

She nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.”

“Well, what did she say?”

Ava shrugged and didn’t respond. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sara’s eyes widen and her shoulders slump.

“Shit. Don’t tell me… Fuck, I can’t believe - I’m so sorry, I really thought she’d say yes. She even - ugh, do you think - no, screw it, I’m going in there and talking to her.” Sara unbuckled and shook her head. “I cannot fucking _ believe _ \- ”

“She told me I start Thursday,” Ava announced, the smile that had been twitching on the corner of her mouth stretching wide across her face as Sara turned in her seat to face her. “Something about Fridays and weekends getting busy, so I ought to have one day of training before ‘it all goes to shit’. Her words, not mine.”

“You’re serious?”

Ava faced her and the smile grew. “I’m dead serious.”

Sara shrieked and launched herself over the console to hug her. Ava was so taken off-guard that she let it happen, her hands coming up and around her on instinct as she laughed into Sara’s hair. “Yes, yes, yes! Congratulations! You actually had me going for a second there, oh my _ god_! That was Laurel’s idea, wasn’t it?”

“Maybe,” Ava said, though it had actually been her who jokingly suggested the prank to Laurel after they’d shaken hands and exchanged numbers.

“I’m going to kill her,” Sara growled, but as she squeezed Ava’s shoulders and pulled away, eyes bright with joy and knocking her forehead against hers, Ava hardly thought bodily harm was coming Laurel’s way anytime soon. Her breath caught in her throat as Sara cupped her cheek with one hand, still smiling wide. “I’m so happy for you. You deserve this.”

“Technically, you were the one to get the position _ for _ me,” Ava reminded her.

“Yeah. True.” Sara’s eyes darted to her mouth and Ava had to restrain herself from backing away. Maybe it was the humidity or the low rumble of the car or her own sweat sticking to the nape of her neck, but she suddenly found her insides heating up. “Just… let’s just say you owe me a date. If you want.”

“Sara, I….” She gasped at the sensation of Sara’s thumb against her cheek, moving slow and patient, like she had all the time in the world. The protest on her tongue died. “I don’t know if….”

“If you don’t want to, I’ll stop,” Sara promised. Her voice was so quiet in the car it seemed to echo around them. “I’ll stop asking and pushing. I will.”

Ava reached out and placed her hand over Sara’s on her cheek, and she watched in awed fascination as Sara’s eyes followed her movement. She could feel her pulse jumping feverishly under her fingertips, almost in-sync with her own.

“I don’t want you to stop,” she murmured. “I just… things are - ”

A fire engine raced by, blaring its siren past the parking lot with two cop cars trailing behind, and Ava couldn’t help but stare after them as they took the side road out of town, all previous thoughts escaping her.

“Ava?” Sara nudged her. “Are you okay?”

Another fire truck came not a second later, peeling around the corner as it followed the other. Her heart leapt to her throat.

“Ava?”

“No one uses that back road,” she said. It felt like she was talking underwater, swallowing huge lungfuls of saltwater as she struggled against the riptide. “That’s the way to the house, no one uses that road, it’s the only way to our house and _ only our house _ \- ”

“Ava, _ breathe_,” Sara tried to cup her face with both hands, hold her steady, but the moment was over. Ava tore out of her grip and pulled out of the parking lot before she could blink, ignoring Sara’s shout as she sped onto the road, tailing the fire trucks and cop cars from a distance. She hoped she was wrong, she’d give _ anything _ to be wrong, but there was a reason she’d chosen a beach house near the outskirts of town, far enough away that they wouldn’t hear the ocean at night and Ray could sleep without traffic outside their windows. Nobody drove this way for a _ reason_.

She heard the moment Sara sucked in a sharp breath, catching sight of the smoke drifting above the trees at the same time she did, watching it form a dark cloud as it stretched up into the sky. The cars came to a halt next to the driveway, the fire truck pulling past them, and once Ava parked by the mailbox, she barely wasted a moment before she was unbuckled and running out of the car, sprinting past a few officers who shouted at her with their walkies in hand.

The whole left side of the house was on fire, an inferno that she could feel the heat off of from the end of the driveway, licking at her skin as terror seized hold. Someone yelled her name behind her - likely Sara, maybe an officer, who knew, who_ cared _ \- but she didn’t stop running, ready to burst through the front door if she had to.

_ Ray, Ray, Ray, Ray. _

She was so stupid, how could she have _ left him alone_, this was _ her fault_, all her fault -

“Ma’am!” An officer grabbed her upper arm and Ava spun around, moving to elbow him in the side, but he just took hold of her other arm, grimacing as her nails dug in through his sleeve. “Ma’am, I need you to stay back.”

“My brother - he’s in there, I need to - _ let go of me, I need _ \- ”

Something in his expression went slack. “You live here?”

“Yes, I need - _ he’s in there, let me go!_”

“Ava!”

She nearly broke down, head snapping in the direction of Ray’s voice and spotting him within seconds. Right before he was ushered into a police car and the door was shut between them.

“_Ray_! Let _ go_, I need - ”

The officer holding onto her sighed but didn’t budge an inch. “Look, there was a child left alone and unsupervised in that house and if you’re the responsible adult, we need to ensure there’s legal means to this guardianship - ”

“_Legal means_?” Ava turned to face him and whatever expression was on her face, it must not have been a pretty one because the man’s eyes went a little wider. “You listen here, this is _ my _ house and _ my _family and I don’t know what happened, but you can’t take him away from me.”

“If an irresponsible adult - ”

“He’s _ my brother_!” Ava jabbed a finger into his chest and he released one arm out of sheer surprise. “He was alone for thirty minutes, no more than that, and he’s a smart kid, he wouldn’t do anything to endanger himself. This isn’t his fault or mine, and you’re going to let me at least talk to him and your commanding officer before you do _ anything_, you hear me?”

“Ma’am - ”

“Hey, kid!” They both turned at the same moment and both hands fell from her completely as she spied the officer who’d escorted Ray into the car running into the woods after a small, blue blur, the latter disappearing into the bushes in seconds. “Come back here right now!”

Ava didn’t see what the officer beside her did, didn’t hear if he called for back-up or simply watched her bolt after her brother, the calls of Sara and the other officers and firefighters fading into the background as she charged into the undergrowth, her heart practically pounding out of her chest. Her arm collided with a tree when she didn’t move in time, but she bit back a cry against the pain and continued forward, struggling to keep sight of Ray.

The terrain began to slope downhill and it grew more difficult to keep traction and not tumble onto her face, especially when she tripped over tree roots every two seconds and every breath felt like it was being punched out of her lungs by the humidity with every step she took. A particularly large branch almost smacked her on the forehead and Ava ducked, stumbling and falling onto her hands and knees in a bush. She winced and spat out a leaf, crawling out of the bush, and heard someone shout something up ahead. She couldn’t tell whether it was Ray or someone else, but her blood turned cold thinking of either option. She forced herself to her feet and tucked her hands against her chest as she started off again. There was no time to check if she’d scraped up her palms, but she suspected she had; her arm was already tingling from the run-in with the tree.

Where was the officer who’d run before her? Had he lost Ray? Or was he up ahead?

Before she could think of the most plausible answer to these questions, she managed to get down the hill and the voice came again, this time louder and more upset.

“Those guys were after you, weren’t they?” Oh, thank god, it _ was _ Ray. Ava started to hurry in the direction of the clearing and she caught a glimpse of blue as he briefly stepped into view, face blotchy and wringing his hands. “Why were they trying to hurt you? I don’t understand.”

There was a strange - well, she didn’t know _ what _ it was, but it felt like a pulse of energy, a shift in temperature, some sort of icy wave searing against her skull, probing with careful fingers. A sense of deja vu overcame her and Ava had to pause and rub her temples with one hand, leaning against a tree to catch her breath. It was almost as if there were a barrier around the perimeter of the clearing, fighting to keep out unwanted trespassers.

Or maybe she was just losing it and needed to grab Ray and get out of there.

“Okay.” Who was Ray talking to? She squinted, but now that she was closer all she could see was him standing near the edge of the clearing, biting his lip. “But - But that doesn’t mean you get to run away! I said I’d protect you. That’s what family does: you stick together, no matter what. You can’t just leave me.”

Ava took another step forward and gritted her teeth, her limbs locking up as the wave swept over her once more. _ Fuck_, that hurt. When was the last time she’d felt -

Ray gasped and started to point at something in the sky she couldn’t see, his face paling. “Gumball, _ run _ \- ”

The kitchen that first night, the way she couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t do anything but stare and wait while he snuck away with his prized Sprite and -

A blinding light filled the forest, a beam directly over where Ray stood, and Ava had to turn her head away entirely so she could see _ anything_. A dull roar echoed around her, growing louder and louder like a hum of an engine about to start a race. She blinked frantically as she stumbled in the direction of the light, head turned in the opposite direction as everything was drowned out by the roar and the pure _ white _ around her and -

And then it was gone and she walked face-first into a tree as she turned to search for Ray, leaving her to hiss in pain for a couple of moments. Yeah, that was going to leave a mark.

“Ray?” She staggered forward and blinked again, spots dancing across her vision. “Ray, it’s time to…”

The clearing was empty, save for Gumball’s tiny form crawling out of a bush next to her, eyes huge as he stared up into the sky, ignoring her completely. Ava followed his gaze and a scream tore at her throat, but never quite left it.

She wasn’t much for sci-fi movies, hadn’t seen more than the _ Alien _ franchise and _ maybe _ a couple _ Star Wars _ films (Ray and Sydney had both teased her about never getting into the series or _ Star Trek, _ and then it had just been about the principle of the matter to not watch them, honestly), but she knew enough about what alien spaceships were supposed to look like in media to guess what was hovering above the forest. A gleaming silver exterior held her gaze no matter which way she looked, the distinctly non-rounded shape extending far beyond her eyesight could reach and humming loud enough to be mistaken for a plane taking off. She couldn’t see anything through the windows - _ were _ those windows? It was so hard to tell what was what from this distance, everything was so _ small _ from the ground - and despite the thundering migraine and the gaping she could feel herself doing just at the _ sight _ of the ship itself, she wished she could peer inside and figure out what was going on and where was -

Ray.

She suddenly couldn’t breathe again. _ No, no, no, no. Surely he’s not - _

The ship’s engines flared in the sky, a dark blue aura surrounding the length of it as it started to flicker out of existence, and Ava didn’t care about spaceships or whatever the _ hell _ she was staring at because any light like that must’ve done _ something _ to her brother. Wasn’t this how all alien abduction stories started, but instead in a wheat field with someone naked?

“Ray!” She screamed, running forward and waving her arms. “_Ray_! Let him go, _ no_, don’t you dare - _ Ray_!”

Another roar erupted from the engines and in the next blink of an eye, the ship was gone. Like it had never been there at all.

Ava stood there for a moment, struggling to suck in a proper breath, arms still awkwardly outstretched. The longer she waited, staring at the clouds, the sky’s perfect shade of blue, listened to the faint crash of the ocean from somewhere in the distance, the harder it was to breathe.

He couldn’t be gone.

He _ wasn’t _gone.

All of the things to kidnap her brother, _ aliens _ shouldn’t have been the culprit. It didn’t even make sense, because how and _ why _ -

Gumball.

The revelation hit her like a freight train. The pet store. The weird declaration that he had “spoken” to Ray, yet never used English or any actual speech aside from small noises.

His fucking _ appearance _ should’ve been a dead giveaway and oh, _ fuck no_, she’d let him _ sleep _ next to Ray, she’d let him _ name _ the damn thing, what was _ wrong _ with her?

She turned to give the creature - the _ alien_, an _ actual alien _ \- a piece of her mind, maybe shake him and scream at him to bring back her brother or _ else_, when a figure leapt out of the undergrowth and tackled Gumball to the earth.

“Finally!” With a start, she realized as he slapped what looked suspiciously like glowing handcuffs onto Gumball’s flailing wrists that she was looking at Trenchcoat, one of the weird men from the bookstore. Several scorch marks were scattered across his coat now, hair wild and tousled like it’d been tugged every which way. Trenchcoat knelt beside Gumball and hoisted him up by his wrists, grinning a little at how the alien snarled and struggled as he brought him eye level. “You have some nerve waltzing around after nearly blowing us to space back there. You better be worth the trouble, ya bugger.”

Green stumbled into the clearing and shook off a couple leaves, grimacing when he took in the alien before him. “Please don’t taunt the prisoner.”

Trenchcoat rolled his eyes. “After running us around in circles for so long, _ that’s _ all you have to say?”

“He’s technically a child!”

“He nearly bit off both of your fingers half an hour ago!”

Green shuddered and Gumball snarled louder, swinging his stubby legs back and forth as if that would help him gain traction to escape. “That was scary, yes, but you _ did _ try and stun him.”

“Again, he was going to kill you!”

“I’d say that’s sweet but I don’t think - ” Green’s eyes met Ava’s and he stopped short, nudging Trenchcoat with his knee hard. His mouth flapped for a moment or two, but no sound came out. “Ah. Um. Hello.”

Trenchcoat turned and paused when he too spotted Ava, lowering Gumball a couple inches but not enough so he’d be able to stand on the ground. He gave her what he probably considered a winning smile. “Oh, you again! Don’t you worry about all this, we’re just passing through.”

“Of course!” Green recovered his composure, though that wide smile was strained as he stepped forward to hide Trenchcoat and Gumball from view. “We just went out for a stroll and lost our - our dog! And we found him now, so I suppose we’ll leave you to whatever it was you’re doing, and be right on our way. Yes? Good?”

Ava licked her lips, her throat dry as a desert, and ran a hand over the bottom half of her face. She couldn’t take her eyes off of Gumball’s piercing stare, those dark eyes almost sorrowful as they held her own. All she could see staring back at her was Ray’s pleading gaze, a quiet _ You should go _ whispering in the back of her mind. For some reason, that was enough to steady her breathing, giving her the strength to move as she dropped her arms to her sides with a _ thwack_.

“Where… where is my brother?”

Green’s smile started to fall. “Aha, I don’t - ”

“I’m not talking to _ you_.” She could see Gumball’s mouth move into a smile, thin and sad, and that was enough confirmation that he most certainly knew English. “Where is he? Where did they take him?”

“I, uh,” Green laughed nervously. “He can’t speak, but who are you - ”

“_Ray_!” She shouted, and a part of her took pleasure in the way both he and Trenchcoat winced at the abrupt shift in volume. She wasn’t sure when her hands started shaking, but now they were and suddenly she wondered if it would be wrong to deck two strangers and a baby alien. “_My brother_ _Ray!_ The one you slept next to and ate next to and watched stupid movie musicals with on the floor of my living room, the one who was talking to _you_,” she paced closer and pointed at Gumball’s chest, “before he got sucked up into some vortex in a fucking _spaceship_ and now he’s _gone_ and it’s _your fault_! You _did this_ and now you’re going to bring him back!”

“I feel like I ought to mention that he is an adolescent - ”

Ava seized Green by the front of his dark blazer, and quite frankly didn’t care when Trenchcoat made an alarmed noise as she brought him inches away from her face. “Bring him_ back_. _Now._”

Green sighed and held up his hands defensively. “Look, I think - ”

“_Now!_”

“We can’t!” Trenchcoat snapped, and Ava glanced over to see that he was no longer waving Gumball around, but staring at her, eyes flitting between her and her grip on his partner. Good. Better that he was nervous than that stupid, cocky, arrogant persona he wore around like a pair of sunglasses on a summer day. “We can’t bring him back, if the mothership did indeed take him.”

“Mothership.”

“The Queen of the Dominators,” Green supplied weakly. “She runs his planet, she must have come here for him herself.”

“Dominators,” Ava repeated, unable to stop herself from raising an eyebrow because _ really_?

“That’s just the name of his race!”

“And you just _ happen _ to know this, or you’re able to translate silence now - ”

Green’s form flickered, like static on a television screen before her eyes, and suddenly she wasn’t holding a gangly dark-haired man with glasses but a lime green (_oh, now the name made sense, huh_, she couldn’t help but think hysterically) alien with one blinking eye and a slim figure, two hands out of four held up in surrender, each with two fingers waving back at her. Ava screamed and dropped him flat on his ass as the image receded, leaving the man in place of the alien.

“What the _ fuck _ \- ”

“_Please _ stop screaming,” Green pleaded, scrambling to his feet. “We really don’t want to attract attention.”

“_Attention_? You’re - How long - ”

“It’s just an image inducer. It makes us look human, that’s all. We had to blend in.”

Ava took a couple steps back and glanced from him to Trenchcoat and back again. “Why - Why are you even - ”

“We came here for him,” Trenchcoat answered her half-spoken question, nodding to Gumball who was watching everything unfold in silence. “He happens to be the Queen’s runaway bugger of a kid. We tracked him to your planet and were supposed to return him, but...” He shrugged. “The Queen must have gotten impatient.”

“She…” Ava breathed in deep through her nose and tried to shake off the mantra of _ what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck _ echoing through her head. “This alien Queen hired you. To find _ him_.”

“Yes.” Green gave Trenchcoat a _ look _ and the latter sighed. “Well, not exactly. _ He_,” he nodded toward Green, “was one of her advisors before this happened. I’m more of… ah, what do you call ‘em…” He snapped his fingers. “Ah, yeah! Assassin!”

“Mercenary,” Green corrected quickly, not that it made much difference in Ava’s mind. “We just got a little sidetracked and it took a while to track down the Prince until a couple days ago, when my scanner went _ crazy_, and the stunt at the bookstore…” He rubbed the back of his neck and the tips of his ears turned red. “It _ may _ have gotten us both thrown off the mission. And me _ fired._” He glared at Trenchcoat and the other huffed.

“I _ did _ apologize, what bloody else do you - ”

“Hey!” Ava held up a hand and wished she had a drink in the other, preferably a good red wine that she could down and forget where she was and what was happening. “I don’t care what you’re doing, just - my brother. _ Ray_.”

The pair did look apologetic at the mention of his name (and the most pressing matter at hand, in Ava’s opinion at least). Green glanced at Trenchcoat before he offered her a melancholy smile, perhaps the first genuine one she’d seen since they’d run into each other.

“If the Queen took him, I’m afraid there isn’t much else we can do. We have no way to contact her now. She’s cut us off. And she won’t stop until she gets her son back.”

So Ray was gone.

Forever.

Ava dropped her hand and turned away. The grass in front of her blurred as she exhaled, a gasping breath she couldn’t quite control, and struggled to bite back the sob welling up in her throat.

Ray was _ gone_.

Her legs felt like jelly and all she wanted was to sink into the earth, let it swallow her whole where no one could find her again.

The one person who’d always believed in her, the one person who believed the best in the _ world_, even after everything was ripped away from them, was _ gone_. Just like that. No explanation needed. The end.

What would this alien queen do to him? Torture him? Hurt him?

God, she could hardly stomach the thought of the worst coming to pass, that she would -

No. No, she wouldn’t. She couldn’t.

She was an _ alien_, her brain argued back. She could do whatever she wanted. Who knew what an _ adult _version of Gumball looked like? For all Ava knew she could be ten feet tall with tentacles or three sets of teeth or a hundred limbs. 

Were they going to try and hold him ransom until someone brought back her child? Surely she’d give him up then, right?

Right.

“_Right_,” she murmured to herself, a little dazed and voice wavering as an idea started to unfurl in the back of her mind.

A ridiculous idea that would never work and likely get her killed instead, but -

Ava turned to face the aliens before her and her eyes found Gumball’s in a heartbeat. She swore he bowed his head, just a little, enough for her to wonder if he _ was _ actually telepathic.

“Do you have a spaceship?”

Green blinked. “A ship?”

“A ship, yes, or whatever you call them on your planet or galaxy, I don’t know. Do you _ have _ one?”

“Uh.” He gave Trenchcoat a bewildered look. “Yes. Why?”

“I need you to take me to that mothership.”

Trenchcoat chuckled. “You can’t be serious, love. You have no idea - ”

“Take me to your goddamn ship,” Ava snapped. “I’m going to get my brother back.”

“How? You going to run in guns blazing and fight her off yourself?”

“If she wants her kid so bad, I’m gonna trade him for Ray. Surely she knows how a negotiation works, right?”

Trenchcoat tilted his head and fell silent. It was Green’s turn to laugh nervously.

“We can’t - I don’t think - ”

“You don’t work for her anymore, yeah?” His mouth swung shut and Ava pressed forward, both literally and verbally. “Then who cares what happens to him? You’ll return him and help me get my brother back, then you can go wherever the hell you want. Who’s gonna stop you once it’s over and done?”

“Hm.” Trenchcoat lifted up Gumball and squinted at the little alien. “She’s got a point.”

“You’re seriously considering this?” Green whirled on his partner, eyes wide. “You know what the Queen will do if she sees us again, she was _ very _ plain about that. In very _ graphic _ terms.”

“True.” Trenchcoat grinned and Ava watched Gumball return it. “But this little one’s very persuasive too, as is the Earthling’s point. Even if we’ll likely get ripped in half the moment we set foot on board. So, yeah, why not?”

“He _ spoke _ to you?” Ava asked, somehow still surprised despite everything that had gone down in the last few minutes. 

_ Yes, I did. _ She jumped and then gaped at the smiling alien dangling from Trenchcoat’s grasp by the scruff of his neck. _ Though, I do have some adjustments in mind to this plan. _

“A toddler.” Ava glanced at Green who just looked resigned. “He’s... He’s still a _ toddler_, how is...?”

“Dominators are a highly intelligent race. He must have finally gained control over his telepathic abilities.” Green sighed and headed back the way they’d come. “We might as well get going then. If we have no choice.”

Oh, right. Of course. Telepathy.

Because that made sense.

Maybe she ought to pinch herself. This could be a dream for all she knew.

Because her dreams were _ definitely _ this weird and often involved aliens and telepathy and space travel.

She hoped.

She pinched the skin of her upper arm just in case and hissed through her teeth. Great. Still stuck in this clearing.

Trenchcoat shook his head at her, still wholeheartedly amused, and started off after Green. Ava cast one last glance up at the sky before she hurried after them. 

***

The ship was crashing, and the engines were failing, and Ava was beginning to wonder if the universe simply had it out for her because apparently _ nothing ever _ was allowed to go her way.

“Who would’ve thought they’d be so welcoming?” she heard Trenchcoat - “John Constantine,” he’d introduced himself once onboard with a smirk, and they both ignored how she refused to shake his hand - muttering under the near-deafening alarms going off. She couldn’t see where he was, not when her only point of stability was a loose strap off what seemed to be an intergalactic seatbelt as the ship took a nosedive toward the coastline of Ivy Town. It took all her willpower to keep her feet planted behind the seat, gritting her teeth as the floor shook under her.

Green (“Gary, actually,” he’d rubbed the back of his neck and frowned, “it’s short for - well, you probably can’t pronounce it, but it used to be my grandfather’s name! Or perhaps my great-great-grandfather’s… I don’t remember.”) slammed his hands on the controls, pressing buttons in a language that looked like chicken scratch to her eyes. It didn’t help that each button was flashing the same ominous red as the overhead lights in the control room. Whatever he was doing, it wasn’t easing their descent. 

“Well, perhaps goading them into firing off a few lasers wasn’t the safest approach,” Gary snapped. His glasses were slowly slipping down the bridge of his nose and if she were standing anywhere near him, Ava might have pushed them back up for him. Then again, given his whole appearance was some sort of hologram, who knew if he even needed those glasses. He _ did _ have one eye, after all.

Great. Now she was picturing a lankier version of Mike Wazowski flying an alien spaceship.

John sighed somewhere behind her. “Not my best plan, I’ll admit - ”

“You _ think_?”

“No need to get _ snippy_, mate, I’m just saying - ” 

Ava blew what hair she could out of her mouth and grimaced. “Can’t you just _ pull up _ already?!”

Gary pressed a couple more buttons and grabbed what she assumed was the control wheel (or, the only two-pronged mechanic on the console that appeared to be doing _ any _ difference in controlling the ship’s movements right now). He yanked it back hard and the whole ship shuddered, just barely cresting the forest they’d been about to crash into. She didn’t like the way the floor under her feet made a sputtering noise the longer he held on.

“They must’ve hit one of the main fuel tanks,” John called out. Ava caught a glimpse of him as he stumbled forward, latching onto the back of a seat with white-knuckled grip. There was a cut on his forehead from where he must’ve slammed into something, an oozing blue liquid she really hoped wasn’t his blood dripping down the side of his face. “We’ve got to get it fixed before we do anything else.”

“How about we handle not crashing first?” Ava shot back. As if on cue, Gary cried out a warning and the whole spaceship jolted violently as they skimmed the roof of a house, turning away from the forest toward the beach.

“The fuel tanks _ are _ what we need to not crash in the first place!”

“John, just go fix them!” Gary yelled. “I’ve got this!”

John gave Ava a skeptical look before he used the seat to push off toward the back of the ship, grappling his way to the doors so he could slide between them out of the control room. Ava couldn’t really blame him for his pessimism; Gary’s skills with the control wheel were no better than hers during her first driving test. Honestly, she was stunned they’d managed to land on _ Earth _ with no prior crash-landings.

“You might want to hang on!” Gary warned her, hunched forward as the ship lurched again. It looked like his hold on the controls were the only thing keeping him upright. “I’m going to try and steer us toward the ocean so we don’t hit anything. Or anyone.”

A fabulous idea, indeed. Ava braced herself before letting her feet slide out from under her, holding onto the back of the seat with an iron-clad grip as she struggled to maneuver herself into the seat.

Unfortunately, that was also the moment she got a chance to look out the window and spy a familiar silver spaceship streaking toward them, the same laser cannons that had struck them earlier now pulsing a deep blue against the sky.

“_Fuck_!”

Gary’s head snapped toward her. “What? Are you hurt?”

“No, I - they’re coming back!”

It was Gary’s turn to let loose some choice words now, though she couldn’t understand what it was he said. “That’s great, that’s _ amazing_. They must be coming to finish us off.”

“Why? They already shot us like three times!”

“Well, there’s this whole honor code of _ kill or be killed _ and - ”

Ava groaned and managed to get herself seated before she threw the tether over her body so she wouldn’t fly into the intergalactic windshield up ahead. “So basically we’re _ fucked_, that’s what you’re saying? Do you not have your own laser guns or cannons or something onboard?”

“Our _ what_?”

“Weapons! Guns! Anything to fire back at them!”

“This is just a cruiser! Any weapons we have are personal ones meant for hand-to-hand combat, and besides, even if we could strike them down, we’d be doing so at risk to - ” The alarms reached a screeching volume and Ava covered her ears as Gary winced, throwing the control wheel to the left hard so they missed a volley from the mothership’s laser cannons. She thought she understood what he was trying to convey, though: they couldn’t fire back even if they wanted to without risking _ Ray’s _safety.

Oh, and Gumball’s angry momma. Which, come to think of it, might be rather traumatizing for an adolescent Dominator.

Speaking of which, where the _ fuck _ was Gumball?

Ava glanced over her shoulder in the direction of the seats and any nook and cranny she could see, but there was no sign of the alien. John hadn’t been toting him around, had he? They’d removed the handcuffs a while back so surely he could move about and find some shelter from the chaos going on. If Gary had seen him, he hadn’t brought it up.

She was about to open her mouth to ask when the ship gave another jolt, throwing Ava’s head back against the seat and causing her to hiss in pain, and Gary yelled something indiscernible as the ship careened toward the right. Her ears were ringing from the alarms - really, could they not have found a less ear-ache-inducing sound to blast? - as she gripped the tether with all her might, glancing between the window and the view in front of them. Their ship was getting awfully close to the beach, so close Ava could make out individual people just by squinting at the shoreline. Meanwhile, the mothership didn’t appear to care about risking countless human lives and kept firing, only barely missing the hull as Gary yanked again on the wheel.

Then something crackled over the speakers, the alarm fizzling out (thank goodness) as static came over the line, and Gary exchanged a look with her in confusion as unintelligible garble echoed throughout the control room. It certainly wasn’t English, but it almost sounded like a hand was being pressed over a microphone and someone was screaming -

“_Ava! Ava, can you hear me?_”

Her heart lodged itself in her throat and Ava was undoing her restraints in the next moment, ignoring Gary’s shout as she let herself fall closer to the console, seizing hold of the edge of the counter. “Ray? Ray, I’m here! Ray, is that you?”

“_Ava, they’re - _ ” Static came back over the line, something growled and Ray made a gasping noise, like he was out of breath. “_I don’t know how these things work, but it’s scary and they want Gumball and _\- ” His words cut out and another laser fired from the mothership, causing Gary to slam the wheel forward so they missed the blast. She gripped onto the console with all her might, shutting her eyes as faint screams came from the earth below. Fuck, she hoped no one was getting run over by them. Or vaporized.

Or perhaps the citizens of Ivy Town and its tourists thought they were a really big robin soaring far too close to the ground. One could hope.

“You have to take the comms to reply!” Gary told her once they’d stopped nose-diving quite so much, evening out for the first time since they’d been hit.

“The what?”

“The comms!” Gary nudged a drawer with his hip and she spotted a metallic walkie-talkie-esque device peering up at her. “Just turn it on and it should find the frequency of his comms!”

“I - sure, fine!” Ava dug into the drawer, yelping as it nearly slammed her hand shut when Gary made a hard turn to avoid a palm tree, and clutched the device close to her chest. She wasn’t sure which button was the _ on _ switch but she pressed a couple until the device lit up, beeping like an alarm clock on steroids but thankfully not as loud as their overhead alarm system had been.

The floor stopped shuddering and a dull hum began to fill the control room, and Gary laughed, punching the air with one hand. “Yes, yes! I think the fuel tanks are back online!”

The device in Ava’s hands made a hissing noise and suddenly Ray’s voice came back over the tinny speaker. “_Ava? Can you hear me?_”

“Ray!” She realized her mistake and quickly jammed her finger on the button that gave a staticky beep when she pressed it. “Ray, I’m here, it’s me!”

“_Ava!_” Oh god, he sounded like he was near tears.

“I’m here, buddy, I swear. Where are you right now, are you okay?”

“_I… I ran when Gumball got here, I don’t know, there are a lot of ships around._”

“Gumball?” Well, that explained where the alien had gone, but how -

Gary swore quietly. “The jump ship. He must’ve taken - ”

“_He told me to run and I did, but I lost him, I - I don’t know where he went._” Ray made a shaky noise over the comms and there was more growling from the other end. “_There are guards around and they’re big and mean. They tried to do something to my head._”

She swallowed hard. “Do what, buddy?”

“_I don’t know. It didn’t feel nice like Gumball’s voice. But when he ran in, they stopped and I don’t know if they took him. I gotta get him back. What if they hurt him?_”

“No, no, no,” Ava said, shaking her head before she remembered Ray couldn’t see her. “He’ll be fine, they won’t hurt him. His mom’s on the ship too, and I think she just wants him to come home. Just like I want you to find one of those jump ship things and stay near them, okay?”

“_But Ava, he could be hurt! He’s family!_” 

“He also has his own family, and you’re my brother, Ray, so no offense, but you’re more important than a baby alien right now. He flew a ship by himself and he’s got telepathy so he can clearly take care of himself. You have to get out of there though, right now.”

“We can’t swing over and grab him,” Gary hissed to her. “I can barely keep us from crashing! There’s no drop-off point in the mothership unless you’re leaving!”

Panic twisted like a vice in Ava’s chest. “Leaving. Right. That’ll work.”

Gary’s eyes widened. “Wait, no - ”

“Ray,” she said into the comms, shutting her eyes as Gary protested next to her. “Ray, I need you to get in one of those ships, okay?”

“_But Ava - _”

“Forget Gumball for a second and just listen to me,” she pleaded. “You’ve got to get off that ship before they leave Earth and the only way to do that is to get that ship fired up. We’ll - I’ll try and talk you through it if I can, but I need you to do what I say.”

“We’re going to die,” Gary moaned softly. She kicked his foot and glared at him, even if she had a hard time not believing that sentiment. 

“_I don’t know if I can._”

“It’s just like one of Zari’s video games, right? One of those space invader shoot-outs?”

Ray snorted, even if he didn’t sound any happier about her idea. “_This is nothing like that._”

“No? Tell me what you see, come on.”

There was more static over the other end, heavy breathing, and something she hoped wasn’t another alarm going off. Ava noted that the mothership was facing them head-on once more, the front of the ship beginning to pulse with light.

Fuck. Maybe Ray’d have better luck staying quiet and hidden on the Dominators’ ship than theirs.

Something hissed over the line, like a door sliding shut. Ray huffed into the device, the sound loud before a _ clank _ overtook it. “_Whoa. It’s so bright in here._”

“Are you in a jump ship?”

“_Uh… I’m in _ a _ ship?” _

“Yes, he probably is,” Gary answered for her. “Tell him to look for some flashing blue buttons and press them.”

Ava relayed the message and listened to the telltale beeping on Ray’s end, careful and steady, as she watched the mothership’s bow pulse brighter. She could hear the hum now through the walls of their own ship and her stomach clenched.

“_I got them_. _ There are words on the screen, I don’t… I can’t read it. _”

“Just pull the lever to the far right,” Gary ordered gently. His own gaze was fixed on the mothership now too, his hands going a little slack on the controls. Ava didn’t like the bead of sweat dripping down his face, how pale he was getting as he stared ahead. “That’ll rev the engine and you just need to use the controls to steer toward the doors.”

“_I’m not a good driver_.”

Gary laughed, tighter and higher than usual. “Me neither, little buddy. Just - just be careful. The doors should open automatically when you get close enough.”

“_There are guards around still!” _

“Ray,” Ava soothed, gripping the console hard as the hum started to shake their ship. Fuck, fuck, _ fuck_. “I need you to do this, okay? Do you trust me?”

Ray sniffed. “_I trust you_.”

“Good.” Ava sucked in a breath, struggling to steady herself. “I’ll - Everything is going to be fine, I just need you to get to those doors. Maybe we can pull you in once that happens. With a tractor beam like _ Star Wars_, right?”

Gary nodded and she heard Ray take a deep breath of his own, something whirring in the background from his end. “_O - Okay. I’m - I’m moving._”

She wiped her eyes with the hand that held the comms and cleared her throat, pointedly not looking at Gary. “I - I love you, Ray. So much.”

“_I love you too._”

The light was growing blinding now, just like it had in the clearing, the heat causing her eyes to water.

Fuck, she couldn’t do this. She couldn’t -

“_Ava, I think _ \- ”

John threw open the door to the control room with a grin, holding up what looked suspiciously like a metal flask. “Good news! I found the liquor below deck!”

Then the mothership gave a piercing cry, so high-pitched she had to let go of the console to cup her ears, and then the ship was careening toward them, smoking near the bow and the beam of light was gone as Gary shouted something to John -

Then the ships collided and Ava was thrown backward, losing her grip on the comms. Her head hit something hard and then the world spiraled into darkness.

***

_ “She’s waking up.” _

_ “Are you sure?” _

_ “That leg looks bad, must’ve gotten caught in the door - ” _

_ “Yeah, the airbags didn’t help but - ” _

_ “Saved her too.” _

_ “Any other relatives to contact? Not much in his phone, mostly seems to be work and the emergency contacts are each other.” _

_ “Damn. Hard to believe - ” _

_ “Oh, she’s getting - ” _

_ “Yeah, she’s - ” _

_ “Wake up.” _

_ “Ava, wake up.” _

_ “Ava.” _

“Sharpe, wake up!”

She gasped, eyes flying wide before she winced, touching the back of her head and - oh, great, that was blood, wasn’t it? But it wasn’t sticky, and come to think of it, everywhere was rather wet, her clothes were sticking to her, hair plastered to her face like she was swimming in -

Water. There was water everywhere, at least a foot deep closer to the bow of the ship, but it was pouring in fast through a few gaping holes near her.

John was crouched over her, tapping her cheek, bringing her attention back to him. The genuine concern in his eyes and the blue blood staining both the side of his face and jaw was enough to startle her and gave Ava cause to try and sit up, even if her head throbbed. He grabbed her upper arms and it was only as she managed to stand that she realized someone was shouting for them to hurry - Gary, it had to be Gary - by one of the holes in the wall.

“How… Ray…”

“No time, love,” John hushed her, helping her wade through the water as it climbed toward their knees, and sure enough Gary was waiting for them by the time they reached the nearest breach in the wall, his glasses gone and hair sticking up every which way like a wet dog. She tried to object, but John just shook his head at her. “Questions later when we’re not about to drown, alright?”

That… that was fair. Ava rested her shoulder against the wall, immediately regretting the move when it scraped her bare skin, but the sting of pain helped her focus as she looked out at the shore they’d crash-landed near. Thankfully, they weren’t more than a half a mile or two out from the beach, but with how dazed she felt and the wariness John and Gary were eyeing the saltwater rushing in, she wasn’t sure if they’d be able to swim the full length.

Still. Drowning in a crashed alien ship seemed like a shitty way to go.

Ava took a deep breath and was about to leap into the water and go for it when a faint shout caught her attention. Coming closer to them by the minute, a little speedboat with a couple figures riding on top raced forth from the direction of the shoreline and -

Oh. So that was where the mothership landed.

Her stomach turned at the thought of Ray drowning though, and while the ship looked less damaged than theirs, with no holes in it for one, she couldn’t see inside or whether there were any lifeforms -

“Ava!” The shouts grew clearer and she squinted back at the boat and the figure waving at her from on top of someone’s shoulders, tinier than the rest of them with a blue -

“_Ray_,” she breathed, her eyes welling up with tears, and she didn’t think twice before jumping into the water. The cold of the ocean was a shock somehow, despite being already shivering and on her way to soaked, but Ava didn’t care; she came up for air and swam in the direction of the boat, hearing the rumble of it crossing closer and closer as she blinked water out of her eyes the best she could. Whether John and Gary leapt after her, she couldn’t tell, but then the boat was pulling up next to her and one pair of sturdy hands lifted her onboard, patting her back and smoothing the hair out of her face as she coughed, shaking uncontrollably from the brisk breeze and sheer relief of being _ alive, alive, alive_.

“You’re okay, you’re going to be okay,” and Ava really could’ve burst out crying when she looked up to meet Sara’s gaze, soft reassurance mirrored back at her through blue eyes as she grabbed a towel with her free hand and tugged it around Ava. “Jesus, stop giving me heart attacks, or I’ll be dead before I reach thirty, you beautiful idiot.”

“You’re _ both _ idiots,” Zari said, and when Ava glanced at her she just rolled her eyes, hands on the wheel of the boat as she started to turn away from the ship. Still, she thought she saw panic abating in her expression as well, shoulders relaxing now that Ava was safely onboard. “You’re _ so _ lucky I got out early, Lance.”

“Shut up,” Sara choked out. Ava couldn’t help but laugh into her shoulder, something about the whole situation was so funny to her now. “You’re lucky I asked first for the boat.”

“Or what? You were going to hijack it and steal the keys?”

Before either of them could continue bickering, Ava was knocked onto her back by a bundle of blue and yet another cotton towel, a small face buried in her chest with hands fisted in her soaked shirt. Her head ached when it hit the deck, but she forwent a lecture on being careful considering that she didn’t need to see the familiar head of dark hair to know who her assailant was. 

“Ava! You’re okay, you’re okay!”

She pulled Ray snug against her and cupped his face in her hands, biting her lip so she didn’t start sobbing, checking him for any bruises or scrapes. “Oh my god, Ray, are you alright? Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine.” He squirmed as she tried to lift the towel and check. “Ava, really! I’m fine, I am!” 

“You didn’t bump your head, you’re okay?”

“No bumps! There was this noise and we crashed and I got out of the ship and the doors were already open so I had to swim! Zari brought her boat over but I swam real fast, it wasn’t too deep for me!”

“I bet you did, I’m so proud of you, but - “

“I even got Gumball back!” Ray turned and Ava spotted the little alien toddling toward them on two legs, eyes flitting between the four of them with a look she couldn’t pinpoint. Sara tensed as he drew nearer, but didn’t say a word. “He found me and said everything was going to be fine, see?”

“Uh huh.” Ava glanced toward the ship she’d swam from, two figures paddling closer by the minute though they seemed to be struggling more than she had been. “Zari, can we make another pit stop for these two?”

Zari raised an eyebrow. “They’re with you?”

“It’s… it’s a long story, just let them up.”

Sara’s eyes narrowed. “Wait, are they the ones who - ”

“Like I said,” Ava gave her a look that hopefully translated to _please don’t make a scene_ _after half of us nearly died_, “it’s a long story.”

“Are they aliens too?” Ray asked. He seemed oddly cheerful now that their lives weren’t in immediate danger, craning his neck like it would help him see overboard as Zari pulled up next to John and Gary.

“Apparently, yes.”

“Whoa. Cool.”

Zari muttered something about not getting paid enough before she ushered Sara over to help her get the two onboard. Sara hesitated, wrinkling her nose at the pair, but Ava nudged her leg and that was all the motivation she needed, so it seemed, to assist Zari in tugging John and Gary aboard.

_ They are waiting for us_. Ava jumped and nearly swore when she turned to find Gumball standing inches away from her face.

“I - what? A little personal space, and warning next time, okay?”

“You can hear him!” Ray somehow looked more excited, though he stopped bouncing in her lap when she tapped his arm, settling for throwing his arms around her neck for support. “I _ told you _ he could talk.”

“Yes, yes you did.” Sara sent her a _ look _ but Ava waved her off. “I guess that should’ve been on the top of the list of _ clues your new house pet is an alien_.”

_ The Queen is ashore. _ Gumball’s mouth was turned down in a frown as he sat next to them, one hand resting on Ray’s knee. Part of her wanted to protest, but she figured picking a battle with a baby alien probably shouldn’t be a high priority right now. _ She frightened the humans away and now she is waiting for us. _

Oh. Good.

“Is she going to take you away?” Ray asked. His smile dimmed and a shiver wracked his body. “Is she going to take you home?”

_ She will try. _

“Well, it’s not like we can avoid her,” Ava said. Now that Gumball had brought it up, she thought she could see several shapes on the shoreline, standing in a row near the edge of the water, and while they weren’t ten feet tall like she’d feared, she could tell they certainly weren’t human-sized, maybe well over eight feet at the very least. 

Yeah, she doubted they’d be any friendlier than they’d been while firing laser cannons.

_ Everything will be alright_, Gumball assured her, and not for the first time she wondered if he was actually able to read her mind. Which definitely would’ve been a more frightening thought if she hadn’t watched him devour candy and cheesecake in her house for a week or so straight. _ She will listen to reason, I hope. I will speak to her. _

“Okay.” Somehow Ray looked less pleased by these words than she was. Ava rested her chin on top of his head and felt him snuggle closer, hands digging into her arm like he never planned on letting go.

To be fair, the idea of ever allowing her brother out of her sight again wasn’t a fun thing for her to consider either. If she had her way, she’d drive him home and lock him in his room and they’d live off of chocolate bars for the rest of their days where no aliens or spaceships could reach them.

A snort came from her right as the speedboat’s engines started up once more and Ava saw that John had forgone the towel and just stripped out of his coat, ruffling the cotton over Gary’s disgruntled head to make him slap at John’s hands. Sara met her eyes above their tousling forms on the deck and a ghost of a smile crossed her lips even as she shook her head.

“Well,” Ava said slowly, catching Ray’s eye as she peered down at him, a smile of her own beginning to form, “I guess you _ did _ agree to go to the beach with me this week.”

Ray laughed against her chest and poked her ribs, but she didn’t mind, smiling wider as he pulled her arms tighter around him.

_ Everything will be alright_, Gumball repeated with a firm pat to Ray’s knee through the towel, and deep down, Ava wanted to believe that as they headed back toward the shoreline of Ivy Town, so she pressed a quick kiss to the crown of her brother’s head for luck and held on for dear life.

***

The best part about the aftermath of surviving a battle/impromptu rescue mission with an alien overlord and her army was that despite the damage done to several homes and a rather large tidal wave that had nearly washed away a few tourists, everyone had a different explanation for what had happened. 

Some whispered about Ivy Town being the real Area 51, that the locals were just test subjects or aliens in disguise, a fact that was ironic enough she snickered about it to herself in the produce aisle at the grocery store. A couple of tourists said it was a hoax, that the ships were holograms and perhaps a toxic gas had been released during the tidal wave to make them _ think _ they’d seen aliens walking about the beach. Her personal favorite was that a freak hurricane and volcano eruption had collided to cause the damage onshore and the alien ships were just sunken cruise ships briefly seen by the public before they sank back beneath the waves.

Even better, though, was that few seemed to realize Ava and Ray had been part of the freak disaster at all, which thankfully left them out of any line of questioning unless anyone had actually been there when they were taken ashore by Zari.

And in that case, the questioning came from Sara and Zari more than anyone else, most of them whispered in Ava’s ear as they’d watched Gumball toddle over to his mother (the tallest of the aliens, because of course she was) and the two Dominators communicated through a series of groans and chirps they were all unable to decipher. At one point she even caught Gumball humming a familiar melody and had to shush Ray as he started to hum along. 

She suspected John and Gary had an inkling as to how the conversation was going, given how they whispered to each other a few feet away, but she’d decided to leave them be since she had her own questions to answer.

Plus, the way John not-so-subtly wrapped an arm around Gary’s shoulders to “warm him up” had made her think that it might be best to give them some privacy.

“I knew he was some kind of demon alien,” Zari had whispered as the Dominator Queen scooped up Gumball in her arms, the width of said arms reminding Ava eerily too much of tree trunks. Definitely grateful they’d never gotten into hand-to-hand combat with her and her army.

“I really thought he was a reptile until I saw him,” Sara muttered. “Not sure if it’s for the better that he turned out to be a telepathic baby alien.”

Ava shrugged. “Nah, just wait until you’ve seen him swallow a can of Sprite whole. He’s not so bad.” The looks the two of them sent her nearly made her double over laughing.

And, well, maybe the laughter helped ease the tension, because it really felt like there had been no need to worry when Gumball and his mother approached their little group not a minute later. The Queen bowed her head toward Ray and Ava as she set down her son, and that strange chill from the clearing in the woods overcame her again.

_ Thank you for watching over him. He has told me of your bravery and kindness. _

“O - Oh.” Ava swallowed a lump and watched as Ray hugged Gumball, eyes wide and darting between Ava and the Dominator Queen. “I, uh, no problem. You’re welcome, I mean.”

_ He has requested to stay here with you. _ The Queen tilted her head and Sara twitched by her side, stepping a little closer. _ I do not know why, but he seems attached to this planet and this colony. He wishes to learn more about your ways. Will you teach him? _

“Sure. If that’s what he, um, what he wants.” How exactly she was supposed to “teach” Gumball anything seemed beyond her. Maybe she’d start with a healthier diet.

_ Excellent. _ The Queen eyed John and Gary, who stood surprisingly still as they took in the Queen’s proximity. It was almost amusing to watch them straighten under her gaze. She suspected the Dominator was sizing them up. _ And these two will remain here to supervise and guide you. _

“Of course, Your Majesty,” Gary said, a nervous smile painting his features.

_ And to live out their banishment on Earth. _

“…Ah.” They both looked less happy about that.

“Thank you,” Ray called up to the Queen, catching her attention again. Ava resisted the urge to snatch him up and bolt as her dark eyes regarded him with a glint she dared not name. “We’ll take good care of him, I promise.”

She swore the Dominator smiled, though it wasn’t a pleasant one by any means. _ Good, little one. _

And that had been that. The Dominators left in their mothership, almost causing another tidal wave as it rose up into the sky and faded out of sight in the blink of an eye, and John and Gary set off to hauling their own spaceship ashore (because apparently cloaking devices worked wonders to fool the curious public eye, and dragging a spaceship onshore and through the surrounding woods for repairs was no big deal when you had _ super strength _ \- she made a mental note to remind herself to tear into them both about not mentioning _ that _ beforehand).

Then all that was left was returning home, where Sara called her ex-police chief dad in to berate the officers who’d tried to drive off with Ray, and having rich adopted parents was again a serious perk, because it meant they only needed to stay over at Sara’s apartment for a couple of weeks before the damage done by the fire was repaired and deemed livable for a grown woman, her adopted brother and their alien charge.

And two fully grown in-disguise aliens as well, considering they had no place to live and Ava had a spare bedroom. Sure, it had one bed, and she lectured them on how to use human currency for at least an hour so they could buy necessities like clothes and toothbrushes and whatnot, but she wasn’t cruel enough to force them to live in their broken spacecraft.

Even if they’d _ also _ had another lecture that involved threatening the pair of them if they even _ thought _ about hurting Ray and/or Gumball, since the two kids were a package deal. She took great satisfaction in seeing the glimmer of something verging on mildly impressed and scared in their eyes.

So it wasn’t that bad, in the end. Truth be told, the new living situation oddly reminded her of Star City, back when she’d had a bustling house of two parents and two brothers to deal with.

Now it was just a brother, a baby alien, and two slightly bigger aliens. Funny how that worked out.

Just in time for the new school year too, Ava mused as she set the table, the exhaustion of working late the night before still clinging to her bones.

“Ray?” she called up the stairs, sighing when she got no response. “Ray, buddy, we’re going to be late if you don’t hurry! Your breakfast’s getting cold!”

“Coming!” There was a muffled thump and she rolled her eyes. “I’m coming!”

“That’s what you always say,” she muttered under her breath. “And yet here we are.”

“Actually, that was my fault, Sharpie.” She glanced up and immediately wished she hadn’t, turning her gaze to the napkins in hand rather than a half-dressed John with a towel wrapped around his waist strolling into her kitchen. “Might’ve hogged the shower a bit. Those things are strangely comfortable.”

“_What _ have I said about not putting on clothes in front of Ray?”

“Relax,” he waved her off, snatching an apple from the counter. She took her eyes off the napkins long enough to glare at him and he rolled his eyes. “I’m going, I’m going. Just had to get a bite to eat. Showering made me peckish.”

“Then take a shorter one next time!” Ava called after him as he headed off toward the spare bedroom.

There was a sharp rapping at the door and Ava hurried to get it, shouting one last warning for Ray to get downstairs before she threw it open. Sara leaned against the doorway, smiling as soon as she saw Ava.

“Hey, you.”

“Hey, yourself.” She spared a moment to groan internally over the lack of a shower and how messy her bun was at the moment, knowing she likely looked like she’d rolled out of bed and gotten to work ushering everyone out the door, which…wasn’t too far off from reality, to be honest. “Zari in the car?”

Sara nodded toward the SUV in the driveway and sure enough, Zari honked a greeting right on cue. Ava spotted Behrad in the front seat and gave them both a quick wave. “Yep. Gotta say, didn’t expect carpooling to be this awkward when all he wants to do is play on his DS or Playstation instead of talk.”

Ava’s mouth twitched. “Playstation?”

“Whatever they’re called.” She playfully swatted Ava’s shoulder but she hardly looked perturbed by her laughter. “Maybe I’m becoming a grandma already. Kids these days, you know.”

“Sure, Lance.” Footsteps thundered down the stairs and she turned to spy Ray leaping down them two at a time, his face lighting up at the sight of Sara. “If you want breakfast, I left some fruit on the table. Otherwise I’m dumping that oatmeal, mister.”

“Okay! Hi Sara!” He darted into the kitchen and Ava pretended she didn’t see Gumball tucked into the hastily zippered backpack on his back.

Sara, however, cocked an eyebrow and folded her arms over her chest, giving Ava a look. “How’s _ that _ going to go at school?”

“We already argued about it four times. Honestly, I doubt anyone’s first thought is going to be _ alien baby _ and I got assurances from _ both _ of them that all Gumball will do is sit nice and quiet with the snacks in his bag until lunch time, and they’ll behave extra carefully all day.” She glanced into the kitchen and leaned forward. “Besides, I’m hoping it’s not an everyday thing. I already told him I want him to focus on _ school_, not Gumball.”

“Seems like you’re on top of this whole super big sister deal.” A spark of something that sent a rush of heat to her gut entered Sara’s gaze. “Look at you. Just think, you were making PowerPoints and spreadsheets about how this would all go wrong - what was it, three days ago?”

“Oh, shush.”

“I’m serious, those were some _ long _ pros and cons lists.”

Ray hurried back to them before Ava could swat Sara, his cheeks a tad flushed from all the running, and a couple of bananas in hand. “Ready! Are John and Gary up?”

Ava coughed. “Um, I think they’re still sleeping, and it’s time to go, so it might be best to skip the goodbyes for today.”

“Okay!” He waved in the direction of their room anyway, hugging Ava and then Sara. “I’ll miss you!”

Ava smiled. “I’ll miss you too, big guy. Have a good first day and say hi to Zari and Behrad for me.”

“Will do!”

“Have fun, Ray,” Sara called, and they watched him rush off to the SUV, throwing open the door and waving at them once again before he jumped inside. Her heart didn’t stop clenching until long after they pulled out of the driveway, disappearing from sight within minutes.

A hand slipped into hers and Ava looked to Sara as her expression softened. “He’s going to be fine. I promise.”

“I know,” Ava admitted. “I just… everything’s so different now. Not because of the obvious aliens in my house now, because that _ is _ different and very strange, but the moving and new schools and new jobs and new people…. He’s been through a lot.”

“You _both_ have.” Sara gave her another knowing look that made her want to squirm. “I’m not going to say ‘change is normal and good’ because that’s bullshit, but it’s _okay_ for things to change. For the better or for worse.”

“Yeah.” She squeezed Sara’s hand and tugged her closer, the urge to laugh welling up inside her chest like a bubble rising to the top as their noses skimmed each other’s, twin smiles growing in the last vestiges of summer’s heat. “I think that it was, though. For the better, I mean.”

“Good,” Sara whispered. “That’s good.”

She couldn’t say which of them leaned in that extra inch for the kiss first, but Sara’s free hand cupped the nape of her neck and hers wound around Sara’s waist on instinct to reel her in, and somehow everything was at peace and all her worries melted away, just for a moment.

**Author's Note:**

> Come scream with me at my DCTV Tumblr @areyouscarletcold. Comments are always appreciated, and have a great day!


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